Carved Out
by boohoo650
Summary: A killer slaying prostitutes on Eames' old turf brings her temporarily back to Vice. BACasefile. Chapters 16 and 17 Up!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Don't own them. Someone way more creative than I has those rights.

A/N2: This is my first shot at a case file. It's been on my mind for a few weeks now, and of course the night before I have a presentation due at work is when I decide to start churning it out. Yay for distractions. Hopefully I'll be able to put out weekly updates, but it depends on the busy-ness factor (which these days is pretty high).

The sudden shriek of a phone in the middle of the night startled Alex Eames awake. Her eyes popped open and she took a deep breath quickly glancing at her dark surroundings, as had become customary for her since the "incident" involving Jo Gage.

The phone blared again and the arm around her waste tightened as she sat up slightly to reach it on the bedside table. Reaching out and making sure the offending phone was her before answering she gave a heavy sigh.

"Eames."

"Detective, it's Captain Ross, sorry to wake you at this early hour." A quick glance at the clock showed it was 3:30 in the morning. "It's okay Captain, I'm pretty sure it's in the job description somewhere that one must be woken in the middle of the night on at least a weekly basis. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"You've seen the news in recent weeks on the prostitutes being murdered over on the West Side?"

"Yeah." She could feel her bed-mate shifting beside her in an attempt to hear the words coming through the earpiece.

"They've got another body."

"Cap, isn't this Vice's problem? Maybe Homicide's?"

"It is Vice's problem. Your problem is that a guy over in Vice is asking for you. Says he knows you."

"This guy got a name?"

"Paul Kemp, says you two worked together once upon a time."

"Yeah. He was my first partner in Vice. We came up through the ranks together there." And, she thought silently, he was the one who had the distinct honor of telling my husband had been killed.

Forcing that last thought back down she turned her attention back to her Captain.

"Well, he's the Captain over there now and he called and said he's looking for an extra pair of hands. In particular your pair of hands. Since you and Goren just wrapped up your last case yesterday I figured I would lend you out. For now."

"Fine. I'll call Goren and we'll get down there in the next hour. Tell the CSU techs not to disturb the scene please."

"Kemp's just asking for you. Goren can finish up the paperwork from this past week."

"We're partners Captain, we come as a set."

"Fine, Detective, but keep your partner out of trouble."

"Right. Where's the scene, exactly?"

"Near the corner of 33rd Street and 11th avenue. I know it's desolate out by those train yards this time of night, but you can't miss all the lights from the cars."

"Thanks." She flipped her phone shut and placed it back on the nightstand. Rolling on to her back she turned her head to the right where her bedfellow lay.

"We've got a case. Well, I've been requested on a case. But that's neither here nor there, and I told Ross that I don't go if you don't go."

"Would it be too much to ask for eight uninterrupted hours of holding you and sleeping?" Came the tired but understanding reply.

"It seems that way."

"Can that be my Christmas present?" He sounded almost like a young boy with that question

"Christmas is seven months away, Bobby."

"My birthday, then."

"Still two months. Two months too long."

"Maybe when we figure out why they want you on this case and how long it's going to take to wrap it up we can put in for a long weekend and do nothing but lay here in bed?"

"Maybe. But both of us taking a long weekend at the same time? Seems 'suspicious' to me, if you catch my drift."

"I do, but whatever. It's summer, everyone takes a few days and it makes sense for us to do it at the same time. Since, you know, we come as a set."

"When did you start wanting to spend so much time in bed? "

"Just want to be as close to you as I can, baby."

She rolled onto her side again, this time facing him. Pulling his face to hers for a slow, sensuous kiss she smiled. When she moved away for air it came back to her that they now had a case to attend to.

As she pushed herself out of the bed she turned to grin at him wickedly. "I get the first shower, and no sharing because contrary to intuition that will actually take us longer. You get to make the first pot of coffee."

He laughed, and with that she started towards the bathroom.

As she showered she allowed her thoughts to wander to this case that had just been handed to them. She hadn't seen Paul in years. Not since she left Vice for Major Case after Joe died. They hadn't even worked that well together. Certainly not the way she and Bobby did now. But… that was a high bar to set by any standards. And these murders… from what she had read in the papers and from the gossip around the squad room she knew them to be particularly grisly.

The M.E. had mentioned that one of the bodies she had received had been horribly abused, and then gutted from sternum to pubis. That thought alone gave her chills.

Stepping out of the shower and pulling a towel around her body and using a second one to dry her hair she noticed herself in the mirror. Nearing 40, Alex still had the body of a 25 year old. It reminded her that she could still be one of those girls out there working the streets at night.

She knew a lot of those girls from her days in vice. Tried to help them. Still, for some the streets were where both home and work resided. And you can't save everyone. Sighing, she realized she'd have to wait to see what the new day would bring her.

The bathroom door opened and her boxer-short clad partner-cum-boyfriend stepped in bearing the elixir of life. There were days when she thought it was possible that she lived for that first sip of java, and then all she had to do was look at him and see that there was much, much more to live for.

Stepping up on tip-toe she kissed his cheek, gave a breathy thank-you and stepped out to get dressed while he had his turn in the shower.

Sighing, she realized she'd have to wait to see what the new day and the new case would bring her.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Not mine. Also, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter so feedback would be fantastic.

It was around 4:45 a.m. when Goren and Eames finally made it from her house to the crime scene on the West side of town.

Prior to stepping out of the car Eames shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She really wasn't sure why she had been called here. Called to a case where the jurisdiction fell to a squad other then her own. She thought back to the kiss she and Bobby had shared before leaving the apartment. They had a rule that even though relationships were technically allowed by the department that they would keep the personal separate from the professional. But… the thought of his touch settled her.

"Ready?" Came the voice from the passenger seat.

"Yeah."

"You still haven't told me much about this Vice Captain who has requested your presence in the middle of the night. And we don't know much about this case…"

Popping the door open she looked back over her shoulder at him.

"There isn't much to tell. We were partners. All five years of my stint in Vice. From twenty-five to thirty-one. I walked a beat for my first year out of the Academy before that, I went to Major Case and work with McDowell for a year and I've worked with you for the six, almost seven, years after. He's young for a Captain, only 40. And I don't know why he asked for me."

She exited the car, putting a little extra "pep" in her step. She was trying to excite herself about the case more then anything else.

Alex had enjoyed her time in Vice, Bobby knew. She felt she understood the criminals more. Not in the sense of violent crime such as the one they were about to walk into, but in the sense that she understood people walking the streets and getting paid for sex. She understood that everyone had to do something to survive.

Bobby watched her go, saw her as she stopped to talk with some of the uniforms to gather information and realized that whatever was on her mind would be explained in good time. Alex wasn't one to hide from him. She just didn't talk about things until she was ready.

Following her out of the car he made his way toward the west end of the block. Seeing the crowd of cops near the mouth of an alleyway Goren figured that the body was back there. After a brief detour to the CSU van to grab a flashlight Goren made his way down the alley, snapping on latex gloves as he went.

When he reached the body it became very clear that the rumblings about this case on the news and around the office didn't come close to the real thing.

The body lay spread-eagle at the back of the alley. The woman was petite, slightly taller then Eames. Her white tank top was sliced straight down the middle, stained a deep maroon with blood, and her faux leather mini-skirt was sliced open as well, leaving the body exposed to the cold night air. Where her clothes were sliced in a perfect line, so too was her body. From sternum to pubis, just as Eames had told him the ME had mentioned.

However, that little tidbit had not prepared him for the rest of the horrific scene. The woman's organs were laid out next to her all in a row. Bobby could pick out the intestines, the kidneys, the liver, the heart, the pancreas, the stomach, the uterus with its fallopian tubes and ovaries still attached. Each sat in a small amount of blood which was seeping into the pavement. Glancing back over his shoulder he caught a glimpse of Alex watching him just before she turned away as someone approached her.

- - -

"Alexandra Eames."

Alex heard her name roll of her former partners tongue and she steeled herself. She was as nervous as a girl on her first date, wondering where the night would lead. Turning away from where her hazel eyes had come to rest on her partner after she had finished speaking with one of the Officers who was first on the scene she now focused on someone from what she fondly thought of as her previous life.

"Hi, Paul." With the smallest smile she looked up at the sandy-blonde haired man before her. Built like Mike Logan, Paul was almost as tall as Bobby, but not quite. He had aged in the eight years since Alex had last worked with him, the standard forehead creases and crows feat around the eyes setting up shop on his face.

Continuing to stare uneasily Alex bit her bottom lip and nodded her head just a little in acknowledgement.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I asked you to come out here?"

"Why _did_ you ask me to come out here, Paul? I mean, besides the dead body. We all know you've handled your fair share of rag dolls before."

"Aw, come on Alex. It's not like you to be so insensitive towards the dearly departed ladies of the night."

"What am I doing here Paul? It's 4:30 in the morning. I'm tired, I just finished a case, and I have a never ending stack of paperwork waiting on my desk that doesn't need any assistance from cases coming in from other departments."

"Alright, alright. Don't get your panties in a twist. You see that girl over there?" Paul pointed across the street to a younger woman in standard hooking gear.

"Yeah, she's a cop. A newbie."

"See, you made her right away. She's a smart girl, a lot of common sense. But I put her on the street and her nerves come out to play. She gets made every time."

"So you sent her out trolling for a serial killer?! We're not talking about your standard John here, Paul. I haven't been down the alley to see the body yet but I can tell by the manpower out here that we're dealing with something vicious."

"Well, I needed it to be her. Julie. She's the only petite girl I've got on my squad right now. The rest are too leggy, and my other tiny lady is on maternity leave."

"Look, Paul, if you brought me out her to survey the scene and then ask me for a favor in the form of an undercover job I think we're going down the wrong road. I'm way out of practice, not to mention I'm pretty sure you have a squad full of girls to choose from."

"I don't want to send you undercover. I just want you to pass along your expertise to her. To Julie. I want you to teach her. She's the best match I've got to what this killer appears to be looking for but she needs help."

"This isn't something you can teach. You're either a good actress or you're not. Not to mention I'm not a very good teacher, I've got the patience of a kid in a candy store, and I haven't done this in years. Really, Paul, you should get one of your other girls."

"I don't have any other girls. Like I said, I've got one on maternity leave and you, you know, most girls don't stick around Vice to long if they can help it. They find it demeaning and merely a prerequisite to other things. You're one of the few I've ever known who actually enjoyed it. I'm asking you for this because in my years on the force I've never known a woman who could pull off the act the way you could. The way you got yourself looking a little drugged up, a little shaky, a little sleepless. Like you couldn't wait for your next fix and were merely trolling the streets for a way to pay for it. Most cops couldn't make you unless they knew you…"

"Paul…"

"Alex, I know we didn't always see eye to eye but you were always one of the best."

"Paul you don't know anything about who I've become over the last eight years."

"No, but I've read your file and I know you have one of the highest solve rates on the force and it's not just because of your mad scientist partner."

"Hey, you don't know anything about him," although you will soon enough she added mentally, "and he's a way better partner to me then you ever were. And you don't know anything about me anymore. Calling my Captain in the middle of the night and having him call me out here is absolutely absurd."

"Alex. I need your help. This city needs your help. Isn't that enough of a reason? Go check out the body. See what this madman has done. You won't have a second thought about helping train Julie after this. All you'll care about is stopping this guy."

Alex was never one to get in the way of saving her city. In fact, she lived for doing just the opposite. She just couldn't fathom why she was the one being called to duty in this instance.

Turning to look at Bobby again she sighed audibly.

"It could have been you, you know," Paul's voice broke through her reverie.

"It could have been me what? Dead on the street?"

"No, you could have been a Captain. You would have been Captain of Vice had you stuck around and you know it. You still could end up a Captain."

"I never wanted to be in charge of anything and you know it. I never wanted to make a headline, I never wanted the spotlight. I was never that girl and I certainly wasn't that cop. I just wanted to do my job."

"So does that mean you'll help? I mean I'm not asking for much, just for you to train the girl and give her a confidence boost."

Turning on her heel she started back in the direction of her partner. "Yeah, _we'll _stay and _we'll_ help. But _we_ are going to be running the show on this case," she called over her shoulder.

"Eames, come look at this." The familiar intonation of Goren's voice settled her down a little, although it was the softness of his gaze on her face that brought her back to the level entirely.

"You can see how precise the wound is. One cut, not multiple stops and starts. This was done with a practiced hand. Even the organs were removed intact, no nail marks or bruising. Most likely a surgeon of some sort."

"Are all the organs there? Is this guy taking trophies?" Alex asked the question as if on autopilot, talking just to talk.

"It looks like everything is here, but I need the M.E. to tell me for sure. Plus, I'd like to find out what condition the other bodies were found in, if anything was taken from them. Did you find anything out from talking to some of the Officers?" Goren responded noticing her distance as much as anything else surrounding them.

"Five bodies so far, all found the same way. Down back alleys, someplace dark and secluded where the girls would be going to perform a trick. All found with their clothes on but slashed right down the middle. The main difference was that with the first three bodies only one or two organs were fully removed, not all."

"The killer is becoming more bold. He either thinks he has more time to finish the job. Or, he's gotten better and can finish it at a faster pace."

"Well, I asked that the files be sent over to Major Case so we can get started right away if you want."

"We're taking this case?"

"Yeah. It's part of a package deal. Kemp wants my help, so he's getting us both. And he's not getting us so that we can do busy work. We're running the show on this one."

Glancing down at his watch Goren saw that it was nearing 5:30 in the morning. "I'd suggest we go home and sleep in our clothes for an hour or two and then come back to the station but…"

"Now you've got a case to sink your teeth into and sleep is for the weak? Plus, keeping your clothes on isn't as much fun as taking them off? One or the other, I'm guessing."

He couldn't help but grin at her wit. "I was thinking more along the lines of… it we try to go back to sleep now we'll just feel more lethargic when we have to get up. And you're right. It's never as much fun to keep your clothes on."

Leading the way back to the car Bobby couldn't help but wonder at the change in Alex's mood since Ross had called her this morning. Well, here's hoping things become clearer by the light of day he thought to himself.

…tbc…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Not mine. This took a little while to crank out, slight writers block has set in. But, I think I got over the hump.

By 11:00 a.m. Alex's eyes were starting to droop. Engrossed fully in the file before him, Bobby had almost tuned Alex out entirely. She stared at him for a moment, wondering what it would be like to read a file the way Bobby read a file. To pick up all the subtleties and nuances that escaped the majority of other cops.

"I brought you some coffee." The unfamiliar voice broke through Alex's thoughts like a car alarm in the dead of night.

"I'm sorry?"

"Paul said you used to like it with a lot of sugar, and some things don't change so I figured since you guys had to get up in the middle of the night that maybe you'd be looking for a midday fix."

Alex stared blankly at the girl in front of her, not quite understanding.

"I'm Julie. Julie Duff, from Vice."

"Oh, Julie. Right. I'm sorry, I'm totally in my own world this morning." Getting out of her chair, forcing a tight-lipped smile and extending a firm hand Alex formally introduced herself. "This is my partner, Robert Goren." Gesturing across the desk Bobby followed suit, standing to shake Julie's hand. He gave her a cordial smile, and then returned to his chair and his file.

"Julie, why don't you… make yourself comfortable in the conference room over there. I'll be in in a minute."

Waiting until the younger detective was out of earshot Eames turned back to Goren.

"Really? I have to do this? Really?"

"Eames, it will be fine. Plus, you didn't have to do it. You said yes. But… it did get us on a pretty good case."

"I don't have your patience Bobby. I don't like to talk to hear my own voice, and I'm not cut out to be a teacher. I—"

"Stop. You're fine. No one's asking you to be a teacher. Not permanently anyway. You're passing advice. Words from one colleague to another, that's all. Plus, you have more patience than anyone I know. You've stuck with me for almost seven years, haven't you? Besides, I may not know your old partner at all but I am absolutely certain he is right about one thing. You were definitely the best the department had. Probably still are."

"Thanks for the pick-me-up partner."

"Hey, I know how you are when you're only operating on a few hours of sleep."

Moving in closer and lowering her voice Alex responded "well I would have gotten more sleep if someone wouldn't keep me up so late…"

Bobby winked at her discretely as she gave a soft smile before turning on her heel and heading for the conference room.

Closing the door behind her, she took one last longing look at her partner. She had to admit that she had no desire whatsoever to be a part of such a gruesome investigation. Still, there was something about Vice that she loved. Something she understood. Something that made her feel like she was squarely in the driver's seat of her life.

"So, Julie… how long have you been on the force?"

"I graduated from the Academy last year. I've been in Vice about 3 months."

"You got a partner?"

"Yeah. His name is Matt. Matt Hartley. He's been around a little longer than I, been out of the Academy three years and in Vice for two. He likes it, I think. But I also think he sees it as a little beneath him. He's probably rather be in Homicide, or here at Major Case."

"You guys trust each other?"

Julie hesitated, just then. It became evident to Alex that maybe the two partners weren't totally suited for one another. Then again, not everyone shared what she did with Bobby. Regardless, most pairs would never let you see the cracks in their relationships. Cops were supposed to back each other up, partners or not.

"Yeah, we trust each other." It came slowly, as she glanced away, with nothing to elaborate on their relationship. Some things aren't meant to be explained to the general population.

"So… this is your first undercover operation?"

"Yeah. Paul has had me watching for a few weeks now, but this is the first time I've been out on the street."

"Well, this is a tough break for you. It's one of the ugliest cases I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of ugly. But the good news is that you're going to get some great experience, probably make a name for yourself in the Department, and it's going to help your career. More importantly, and in case you're like me and you're not too concerned with how quickly you can get to the top of the ladder, experiences like this build character… they're the toughest, but you'll learn the most and feel the most human at the end of the day."

Alex stared at Julie. Shadowed, worn, dark, cloudy, hazel eyes met, bright, young, clear, untainted blue. Julie looked away first, her nervousness showing.

"Julie… if being out on the street makes you so nervous why did you take this job?"

"It's where they put me, ya know? I could ask for a transfer, but with my age and experience I'll most likely wind up walking a beat. I just… I'm not used to being so vulnerable, hung out like a piece of meat. Bait for the next 'John' that happens to walk past."

"Well, you haven't been out there very long. You get used to it. Some of us even like it. You toughen up. You… wait. Have you ever been hit?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Have you ever been hit? Have a potential 'John,' upon being busted, ever reared his uglier side in retaliation?"

"N-no." Julie's stammering response came out and her nervousness shone clearer.

"When that happens it will change you. It will make you more confident. Inevitably, you'll fight back. You'll never forget that feeling the first time someone hits you. It will make you realize the kind of people that are on the street, that the 'Johns' are just as much trouble as the girls out there, if not more so. You never forget your first time."

"When did it happen to you?" Julie's voice was soft, as if she were eagerly anticipating some sacred moment to be revealed by someone she admired.

"I was twenty-five, I had been in Vice for a few months. Maybe four. We were out late on the street. I was soliciting guys and bringing them down the alley, where my partner and company were waiting. It was stupid, really. A rookie mistake."

As she told the story the memories of that night came like a flood for Alex. It's true that you never forget your first time.

"But that's what I was. A rookie. The John didn't want to negotiate unless I got in his car. I didn't want to get in the car, but compromised by agreeing to get in the car if he drove down the alley. I figured I would be in the car less than ninety seconds. We drove down the alley and parked. The guys knew the signal, I was wearing a wire. It was supposed to be that he paid me and that's when I showed him my badge."

She took a deep breath before continuing. Pausing to look Julie in the eye.

"So he paid me, and I made like I was bending to put the money in my bag which I had put between my feet on the floor of the car. When I came back up with my badge… he was pissed to say the least. Screamed twice about how could I be a 'fucking cop.' He hit me so hard I saw stars. It took me a second to recover and another second to hit him back. A few seconds that felt like forever later, Paul and the rest were pulling the guy out of the car. My cheekbone was fractured. I never felt better."

"What?!"

"It's true. It was so empowering in the next moment to slap the cuffs on that guy, mirandize him, and get back on the street. It gave me a new momentum. Made me want to do nothing but put the bad guys in jail and get them off the street. I'm not saying that prostitution is right, but those girls need protecting as much as anyone. Getting people who are violent behind bars is as important as getting these girls to do something more productive then hang themselves out as pieces of meat. Sometimes, they're synonymous."

"So you're saying that the first time you got hit gave you more confidence to go after the people that came later?"

"Yes. It also made me train harder and want to be more prepared. No one's broken my cheek since."

"Are you suggesting I go and get myself smacked around because you think it will help me, because I think that's a crock of shit."

"No. It's probably better if no one hits you. Inevitably it will happen, it happens to us all at one point or another, but it's better if you don't let it happen to you. However, you do need to get some more experience, you need to learn to be a little more aggressive on the street. A little more hardened and rough around the edges."

"How is this going to help us find this guy?"

"Well, my partner is putting together a profile of who this guy is. Once that's done we'll have a better idea of who to hone in on, who to approach on the street instead of doing it at random. For now, though, we can't just rest on our laurels. We'll go out tonight, you, Matt, and I. I'll watch you in action, coach you a little bit through the earpiece. We'll have Matt on back up. It's best you become as comfortable and familiar with your partner as soon as possible. You should always have each others backs."

&&&

Behind the glass wall that separated the conference room from the bullpen Goren was diligently making notes, fleshing out thoughts as they came rapidly to his mind.

"How's it going?"

Goren looked up at the sound of the strange voice. His next glance, to his watch, showed the time was now 1:00 p.m.

"I'm sorry, you are?"

"Oh, my apologies. Captain Kemp. Paul Kemp. Head of Vice."

"Oh, right, right." Goren stood and shook the man's hand firmly while letting his eyes rake over Paul's face. Goren processed the tall, but not as tall as he, blonde haired man quickly and then offered him Eames' seat.

"So, what can I do for you Captain?"

"Just came down here to see how my girl Julie is doing, how she's getting on with Alex."

"I don't really know, Sir, they're in the conference room if you want to check on them."

"You don't have to 'Sir' me, Goren, I'm not your Captain."

"A Captain nonetheless."

"Still…" An awkward silence passed between the two men, not really sure how to approach or treat one another. "How is the profile coming? I'm assuming that's what you're working on anyway. I took the liberty of reading a little of your personnel file after learning you'd be joining the investigation and it said you had a background in psychology and experience as a profiler."

"It's coming. There is a lot of information to sift through, and I still have the M.E. combing over the bodies, trying to find any links between them."

Kemp nodded and more silence followed. The only commonality between the two men was Alex and for Bobby that was an off limits subject. He felt that for his partner, his friend and the woman he was in love with that it wasn't for him to discuss her life and her work with others…

"So, how is Alex doing these days?" But to broach the subject was inevitable here it seemed.

"She's, uh, she's good I guess." Bobby, not wanting to give much away to a man he didn't know, tried to keep mum.

"She seems the same as when I worked with her. Doesn't look a day older. Seems happier though, more spirited. She had a hard time after he husband died… and after…" Kemp trailed off.

Bobby couldn't imagine a truly miserable Alex. What he knew of her was a generally happy person. He saw glimmers of sadness and hurt but she never seemed to let things get under her skin for very long. A day or two and usually whatever bothered her was dealt with. The only exceptions to this rule were with regards to her surrogate pregnancy, after which she seemed to suffer mild post-partum depression, and after her experience at the hands of Jo Gage. Still, even Jo Gage didn't seem to slow Alex down all that much.

"I guess, but I didn't know Alex when the two of you worked together." That was the only response that Bobby would give.

If he were honest with himself he could admit that he felt a slight creeping jealousy at the fact that this man knew Alex in her "previous life" as a cop in Vice. Bobby longed to know everything he could about the woman he loved, and while he knew it was unrealistic to expect to be able to know everything about a person he didn't appreciate this guy coming in here and wanting to discuss something that they had in common which wasn't really something in common after all.

Paul knew the Alex of quite a few years ago, and Bobby knew the Alex of now. While he could feel himself slightly jealous about not knowing the things that Paul knew about Alex he also knew that if anyone was going to tell him how Alex was during her days at Vice, as well as the days surrounding her husbands death, it would be Alex. He didn't want secondhand stories.

Kemp could sense that Goren wouldn't give anything up about his partner, not right now anyway, so he ceased his attempts to find out about someone who he once knew fairly well. As well as partners did, anyway.

The conference room door suddenly swung open and the uncomfortable silence dissipated as the men turned their attention elsewhere. Eames came striding towards them, Julie in tow.

"So, Julie. I'll see you downstairs in the Vice squad room around 10 p.m. okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

The last of their conversation drifted towards the men, both of whom were waiting eagerly to see the outcome of the meeting between young and old.

"Hello, Captain Kemp." Alex addressed her former partner by his new title, some sarcasm tingeing her voice.

"Bobby, I'm going to go grab some lunch. Care to join me?"

"Uh, sure."

"Julie, nice to officially meet you and I'll see you later tonight. By Captain."

Eames both acknowledged and ignored Paul all at the same time. Goren hadn't expected her to be in such a rush to get to lunch, and hadn't expected her to ignore her old partner in the manner that she had. Still, he was beginning to see from her attitude that she hadn't exactly gotten along with Kemp before and so she wasn't going to go out of her way for him now.

As his stomach growled slightly Goren realized that his partner was halfway to the elevator without him. Grabbing his wallet out of his desk drawer Bobby nodded a goodbye to Julie and Kemp and followed Eames in search of an answer to his first question.

What were she and Julie going to be doing at 10:00 p. m.?


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I don't own them.

A/N2: This story is moving slowly, but I've decided to accept that it's not going to reach it's end in 5 or 6 chapters but probably many more than that and I am trying not to rush through things. Hopefully, I'm not dragging things out too much for my readers. Reviews/Comments/Criticisms (as long as they are constructive) are welcome.

The afternoon had dragged on in perpetual silence. Alex had seemed impossibly cranky when she and Bobby had left the office for lunch and on top off that they had fought throughout the meal.

Bobby hadn't wanted to poke into Alex's past relationship with Paul Kemp, but at the same time he was curious. More importantly, he wanted to know what she and Julie were planning for that evening. Thus, the argument began.

Alex had explained that she was going to meet Julie, and her partner Matt, and that she was going to take her out on the street and observe them in action. Bobby, for his part, was supportive of this idea… until Alex revealed that she didn't think it "necessary" that Bobby join them. He had stared at her incredulously across the French fries that sat on the table.

"_What happened to 'we come as a set'?"_ he had queried.

"_We do. But, I'm not going to 'work' without you. I'm going to pass along my knowledge. I'm going to observe. I'm not going to get involved. Julie's partner Matt Hartley is still going to be responsible for being her partner and backing her up. I'm just going to watch. And let's not act like you and I have never done things separately before. In fact, I distinctly recall you going to interrogate one Mark Ford Brady recently."_

Bobby had been shocked that she had played that card, of all things. Sure, she was right that they had on multiple occasions done things regarding a case on their own… he was just flabbergasted that was the example she had chosen to use.

Why not the case early in their partnership involving the diamond thieves when he had told her he 'preferred to watch' and she went off on her own to talk to an informant?

Why not the case from this past Thanksgiving when he had gone to be with his mother and she had interviewed a few witnesses on her own?

He wasn't sure why she had been so defensive. Usually they just divvied up the tasks according to personal strengths and who wanted to do what. Usually it didn't involve a conversation about what was necessary and unnecessary. Usually… well, clearly 'usually' did not apply here and had not seemed to apply to the last thirty-six hours.

Staring across their worn metal desks he sighed. His partner's defenses were up and there was no crossing the moat of her emotions if she didn't want to let down her draw bridge and invite you over.

There was an almost inaudible sigh opposite him, followed by a rustling of paper. Glancing over he was met with tired eyes.

"I'm going to take off early and go home, go for a run and take a nap before I have to be here later."

"Oh," he paused, wanting to ask which 'home' she meant but thinking better of it in their current surroundings, "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah."

He closed his eyes, listening to the soft sound her feet making contact with the linoleum of the squad room floor as they carried her away. Glancing down at his watch and seeing it was 4 p.m. he decided he would put in two more hours putting together a profile and that after that if the M.E. still had nothing to report he would continue his work from home.

Time passed quickly while he read through the files. There were plenty of details to sort through, plenty of notations to scrutinize. Still, at six he figured he would pick up some dinner and then try to figure out where Alex had gone so that he could see her before she had to return to meet Julie.

Food and files in tow he entered his apartment to find it empty and no sign that she had been there since they had departed in the earliest hours of the morning. Turning around and heading to his car he moved on to the bungalow in Rockaway. By the time he arrived there, having battled his way through the end of rush-hour traffic, it was close to 7:30.

The sun had begun its descent to the West, but nightfall was still another hour away. Bobby let himself into the house quietly, having taken not of the drawn blinds on the bedroom windows when he had parked his car and figuring Alex to already be napping.

He peeked his head into the bedroom to discover an Eames-sized lump in the center of the bed, buried under blankets to keep out the chill of the central air conditioning. Quietly, he moved to the dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that were among the few things he kept at her house so that he could change into more comfortable attire.

Creeping back into the kitchen he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and settled onto the couch to watch the news on CNN. At 8:00 p.m. when the program changed Bobby decided that he would rouse Alex so that they could eat dinner before she had to leave. He padded down the hall quietly and was surprised to find her already awake.

She was standing in a pair of dark low-rise jeans, hanging low on her hips appearing to be unbuttoned, and a black cotton bra facing the mirror on the back of her dresser with a black t-shirt in her hand. She appeared to be engrossed with something in the small wooden jewelry box that sat atop the chest of drawers and had not noticed that he was standing in the doorway.

He moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist while leaning in to kiss the soft skin between her neck and shoulder.

"Hey." It came as a whisper past her ear. One word that welcomed her into his arms.

"Hi," she replied as she turned, wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in his t-shirt for a brief moment.

He picked her up and placed her on the dresser, stepping between her legs. Placing two fingers under her chin he tilted is up to try and get her eyes to meet his. She met his gaze head on, never one to shirk from a challenge. He was begging her to talk to him and tell him what was going on with her, all with his deep eyes.

"Not yet. Okay? I know you want to know why I'm on edge, I can see it all over your face, but not yet."

He nodded his response, knowing he wasn't going to get any further until she was ready.

"Also, I'm sorry about this afternoon. I wasn't being fair to you by just telling you it wasn't necessary for you to come along tonight. Even though it's not necessary I could have exercised a little more tact."

"Alex Eames takes the high road and apologizes for a petty argument. Who knew?"

She swatted his arm playfully in response and chuckling, he leaned in to kiss her, suddenly noticing how sexy she looked in her current state of undress with her sleepy eyes and matted hair.

Small soft lips met larger, dryer ones moving slowly at first. Eventually her mouth opened to him and there tongues began their own dance together while the tips of his calloused right hand fingers moved up her torso with a feather-light touch.

She moaned softly into his mouth while weaving her fingers into his curly hair. Then, her lips slowed and she pulled her head down to rest on his right shoulder.

"Sorry," she whispered, "we really shouldn't start this right now when I have to leave so soon."

Damn her rationale, Bobby thought to himself. He kissed her temple and then watched her slide off the dresser, buttoning up her jeans as she went.

"What did you get for dinner?"

"Sandwiches and some of that macaroni salad that you like from the deli around the corner from my apartment. I figured we would keep it simple."

"Sounds good."

They ate silently and then sat on the couch for a little while until it was time for her to leave.

As she was pulling on her sneakers in the bedroom Bobby appeared, leaning against the doorframe.

"The M.E. said she should have some answers for me tonight, said she was able to get some medical records on some of the girls for me to look at so I should have a pretty firm handle on the profile for us to go over tomorrow."

"Good."

"Alex… I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me something."

She paused and looked up at him.

"I don't, we just shouldn't have this conversation now."

Gathering her stuff she moved past him into the hallway. The tension filling the house was palpable, evoking memories of earlier in the day in the squad room after they had argued.

"Was there something between you and Captain Kemp?"

It came out of his mouth suddenly and he wished he hadn't asked in that moment. She had said she didn't want to talk then, yet the words just came out.

She turned on her heel sharply and glared at him, half hurt and half angry towards him for not respecting what she had asked of him.

Deciding she wasn't going to justify him with a response she turned and left the house, closing and locking the door behind her without a single word of goodbye. It was fitting, as clearly there was a door in their relationship that wasn't meant to be opened.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting. Was on a mini-vacation and then had some minor surgery. Not to mention my more than full time job. What a wonderful stress reliever this site is.

It was chilly for a summer evening in New York, and when Alex arrived at One PP she immediately regretted leaving her house in such a huff that she had forgotten to bring a light sweater or jacket. Sighing as she left the confines of her car and entered the parking garage on foot she figured that maybe Julie would have something she could throw on, knowing well that the younger girl wouldn't be wearing much that evening.

Exiting the elevator on the fourth floor where Vice was located had an eerily familiar air to Eames. It seemed the same as seeing an old friend for the first time in many years and feeling as though nothing had changed.

She quickly spotted a small group of people in the Captain's office and recognized easily the build of Julie. Eames had come to think of as a mound of clay waiting to be molded while considering her over the last few hours.

As Alex moved to join the cluster of people in Kemp's office Julie and her outfit came into clearer view. Standing tall in a faux leather red mini skirt, a midriff baring black halter and clear stiletto heels the younger detective looked like the spitting image of every dirty old mans fantasy from the rear view.

Kemp waved Eames in when he noticed her approaching his door and gave her a small grin when she entered.

"Almost makes you wish you still worked here, doesn't it?" His voice snaked out of his mouth as his eyes raked up and down Alex's body. Her response was to give no response, not justifying his pigheaded actions. "You aren't exactly dressed for duty here, detective."

"I'm not going to be walking the streets with Duff tonight. I just want to observe her technique, see how good she is at roping these guys in. See whether or not she gives herself away as a cop or can really pull off the act as a pro."

Kemp nodded his agreement with the plan. "Too bad, bet you still look as hot in a skirt as you ever did."

Not wanting her annoyance to show she avoided even rolling her eyes at the comment. The Paul Kemp she knew from past experience was a chauvinist and a womanizer, as well as a hapless flirt. It was part of why they never really got along. His view of her as a woman kept him from accepting her as an effective detective beyond the job she did in a skirt. Sure, he liked to make remarks similar to his earlier comment about how she could have made captain, but he didn't actually mean them.

"Julie, let's go get you mic'd up. Bring whichever one of these guys is your partner."

Turning sharply on her sneakered heel Alex began to feel that she had made a poor choice by agreeing to take on this investigation. Sure, it would give her a chance to prove her detective skills to Kemp beyond being a pretty face, but did she really need to justify herself to that ox?

She let the techies rig up Julie's wire in silence, taking note of the fact that not a word passed between Julie and her partner Matt either.

After returning to the Vice squad room to pick up the other team that would be joining them for the evening in the surveillance van, two guys by the name of Charlie Nelson and Tim Richardson, the entire group departed.

Sitting in the far back of the van with Julie beside her Alex took note of the fact that she could sense the lack of confidence radiating off the younger girl.

"Don't chew your bottom lip. You want to seem sure of yourself. You don't look young enough to play the runaway on the streets so you're better off going the route of the young woman working for her next fix. Never say you're a mom trying to get money for your kid, it's too much baggage for a lot of John's who are just looking for a good time. And never, ever let them see that your shoes pinch. Working girls feel no pain."

The pointers came out of Eames' mouth at rapid fire. Julie, for her part was watching intently, as if the view were going to help her absorb the knowledge.

"Alex, I know we don't have a profile yet and that I'm not looking for anyone in particular tonight. But seriously, what if this guy is out there?"

"He's not. Two nights in a row is too much. Not to mention we're not going to have our first test run in what appears to be this guy's choice neighborhood. Goren says that the killer is getting bolder in his or her actions, but the murders so far have occurred ten days apart. That means you have nine nights to prepare yourself."

Julie gave a slight nod, trying to let this information comfort her.

The van let her out two blocks from the block she would stroll up and down, about ten block south of the crime scene they had all stood at the night before. The circled a four block radius before getting into position caddy corner to where Julie had assumed her position.

Nelson and Richardson vacated the front seats and moved to the back of the van, behind the partition where they turned on a light and started to listen to Julie and monitor the signals she had been instructed to give when a 'John' appeared and was ready for arrest. Another van was waiting in the wings to take such men away.

Meanwhile, Alex was small enough to fit on the floor between the seats and set up shop there so at to be able to see how Julie acted as well as listen in with the wireless device in her ears. Julie had also been fitted with an earpiece and she was able to hear instructions from Alex and the others as well. From where Alex was sitting she could see out, but in the darkness no one would see her.

Eames watched as Julie cautiously approached the first man who came trolling in her direction. It became clear immediately that Julie didn't lack self-confidence so much as she lacked maturity in her job. She was still reverting to her 'little girl lost' technique, and she didn't really look the part.

However, the first 'John' fell for it and their back-up came from around the corner, packed him into a van and pulled around the block to await the squad car that would take him in for booking.

"Julie, be more direct. Look the guy in the eye, try not to be so shy with your offer. You're supposed to be a hooker not a school girl."

"Okay, okay," came the mumbled reply.

When the second 'John' appeared Julie was almost too aggressive and direct and the guy made her and took off before any money changed hands leaving the officers no reason to go after him.

"Julie… take a deep breath. The night is young." And the night was young. At this point it was nearing one a.m. but seeing as how the bars in New York didn't close until four and people roamed the streets until all hours Alex had figured the would be on the streets until at least three.

After the fourth guy came through Julie's record was 2-2 in terms of catches, and in Alex's opinion the younger girl was starting to get her character down. Then it happened.

From the rear of the van and through the earpiece came the voice of Julie's partner, Matt Hartley. It sounded as though he wasn't right on top of the mic, maybe he didn't even realize it was not muted. As though he was sitting away from the mic while Richardson and Nelson sat near it. Still, his voice came through clearly.

"What is she doing out there? How long is it going to take her to catch on to what Eames is telling her?!"

_On no_, Eames' mind screamed_, no no no no no._ She bolted through the partition door in the van.

"Are you out of your mind?! Julie can hear you!! Not to mention she's doing fine. Not to mention you never, ever, ever question your partner in front of other people. You back each other up in front of an audience and you hash things out behind closed doors. Fuck. Julie, get back to the van, now please."

Alex couldn't take the chance that Julie had become rattled by her partner questioning her openly. Alex knew that had it been her she certainly would have been shaken. She realized now why Julie had been hesitant when talking about her partner in the squad room that afternoon. It was clear there were differences but, clearly unlike her partner, Julie apparently wasn't one to air them in public.

Julie climbed into the van and Eames moved into the drivers' seat. Neither said anything on the way back to One Police Plaza. The group strode into the elevator and the small space seemed to magnify the tension between them all.

When the doors opened onto the fourth floor Richardson and Nelson departed with the speed of Cheetahs hunting their prey. Julie and Matt, on the other hand, were forced into a small conference room with Eames.

"Of the partners I've had in my years on the force only one has ever questioned me and my abilities publicly like that. Let's just say the partnership didn't end well for either of us. Whatever you two have to work out, you better do it now. You're not leaving this room until you do. If you can't work it out, too bad. You're going to have to if you want to solve this case. After that, you can request new partners if that is what you want."

Eames sighed heavily, her anger apparent. Julie and Matt had separated themselves and were lingering on opposite sides of the room, eyeing each other warily.

"There is no reason to openly disagree with your partner like that. The only thing arguments between partners does is get someone hurt. If you two are on opposite sides of the line you won't be solving anything together. We have eight more nights to be as prepared as possible until this guy gets himself back on the street. I don't think we can afford to spend this much of it with you two fighting. Work it out, this isn't high school."

With that, Eames left the two of them stunned. She couldn't believe the audacity of one Matt Hartley. Then again, he seemed to be a protégé of Captain Kemp's and if she were honest with herself he was the only partner with whom she had ever had a public argument.

"Problem, Detective?" Speak of the devil.

"Actually, Captain, yes. Could you please remind the members of your squad that being on a police force means being part of a team? I didn't come here to listen to them fight I have enough of that in my own life."

She couldn't take it any longer. The anger was boiling over and she wasn't sure where it was directed. Alex didn't know if she was mad at Bobby, Matt, or Kemp. It was all blurring together. It was too late and there had been too little sleep the previous evening to deal with it all.

Turning on her heel Alex headed for the stairs, not even having the patience to wait for the elevator.

When she reached her car she realized she didn't even know where she was going. Not wanting to go to her own home because she didn't want to sleep in the bed with Bobby while things were tense with them she opted for the only alternative that she could think of at three a.m.

She was going to Bobby's apartment, to sleep in his bed without him and be comforted by him without gratifying him with the knowledge that he had the ability to do that without even being in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I don't own them. Potentially controversial subject matter ahead in this/the next few chapters. Slight spoiler for 'The Third Horseman.'

When Bobby awoke at 6:30 the bed was empty. He took this as an ominous sign that the day was not going to go in his favor. Taking a deep breath and wondering for a second if maybe Alex was on the couch Bobby placed his feet on the floor and began to get ready for the day ahead.

When he arrived at One Police Plaza he expected to find her at her desk. However, her chair was empty and the papers on her desk untouched from the previous day. Before he had a chance to look for her Ross intercepted him.

"Detective, the M.E. has been looking for you."

"Uh, thanks. Has Eames been in yet?"

"Haven't seen her, and I've been here almost an hour. Find her, then get down to the morgue, if the M.E. knows something important I want us to know it sooner rather than later."

"Right."

Pulling his phone out of his pocket he hit #1 on the speed dial and listened to it ring. It rang four times before the familiar sound of Alex's voicemail recording came through the earpiece.

A quick glance at his watch told him it was 9:00 a.m. Too early for the people who had walked the streets in Vice last night to have returned to work, not too early for people to be down in the Vice squad room and certainly not too early to creep into the "crib" and see if she was sleeping there.

He went down to the fourth floor and, as he had predicted, none of the guys working the day shift had seen her.

Bobby ventured further down into the building to the "Basement" level, which housed both the gym and the "crib." Creeping quietly into the room that held about 20 sets of bunk beds he found no sleeping forms that even remotely resembled Alex. Most were too large and manly to have fit the bill.

Hitting redial on his phone he was once more subjected to her voicemail recording. At this point he began to worry. Why hadn't she come home? Why wasn't she answering her phone? What if something had happened to her in between leaving One PP in the wee small hours of the morning and arriving safely home? Where else would she have gone?

Goren understood, sort of, the Alex had been mad when she had left her house the previous evening. However, he didn't take her for the type to fall off the face of the earth just to be spiteful.

A thought presented itself in his mind, and suddenly he though he might know where she had gone. Sighing, he figured he give this one a shot before letting his nerves get the best of him and calling in a search team to look for her.

& &

Opening the door to his apartment slowly he glanced around and didn't see anyone on the couch. Moving back down the hall he heard no running water to signal that someone was in the bathroom.

Goren took a longing look at the half-open bedroom door, hoping that she would be behind it if for no other reason then it would mean she was safe. That's when he realized that he didn't leave the bedroom door half open, and therefore someone else must be here.

Sure enough, as he made his way quietly to the entrance he could begin to make out an Eames-sized lump in the middle of the bed. From the doorway he could see that she had wrapped herself around what was generally considered his pillow and that she was sleeping soundly.

He let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding before moving forward. Sitting down on the edge of the bed he slowly reached a hand out to her shoulder and gently shook her awake.

She sat up with a startled gasp, not expecting anyone else to be on the bed with her.

"Sorry, I- I didn't mean to startle you. You didn't answer your phone and…" he trailed off, all the while not eliciting any response from Alex. He wasn't sure if she was still annoyed with him but he could sense his own annoyance building. This was one of those complicated things about relationships that he never really understood.

Biting her lip and giving him a look of uncertainty Alex pushed herself of the bed and moved towards the bathroom without saying a word. It took everything he had not to let his agitation boil over.

"Come to work, the M.E. wants to talk to us."

At that he strode past her in the hall and left her to her shower, making his own way to the car to wait patiently. They were nothing if not consummate professionals and he was certain that she would shower and get down to the waiting vehicle as soon as possible. There was, after all, a murder that needed solving.

& &

"Well, I went over these victims with a fine-toothed comb. I pulled together what I could of their medical records although they're mostly incomplete. You know, these girls can't afford proper healthcare and so it's not like anyone is keeping great track of their histories. So, there are gaps in most but I've tried to piece them together the best I can."

Rodgers, with her dark red hair and hardened nose, was not a woman to be messed with. Plus, what the detectives loved about her was that when she went after something she really went after it. She worked tirelessly for them, to help get scum off the streets.

"And?' Goren's inquisitive voice bore the excitement of a child on Christmas morning ready to unwrap his presents.

"Well, three of the girls, bodies one, two and four have gynecological records that say they had abortions. However, all three records also indicate that the doctor keeping the medical history did not perform the procedure. This made me pry deeper into the histories of the other two bodies. Their records were certainly not as well kept. So, I examined the organs which, as you know, had been removed from the bodies pre-mortem and girls three and five had also had abortions."

"I'm sorry, I thought a doctor other than the one that performed the procedure was unable to tell if someone has had an abortion?' Bobby queried.

"That's true, except it takes about three weeks for the cervix to heal. So, if the gynecologists knew it had happened they could have noted it on their records and in the case of girls three and five it definitely happened within the two weeks before their death as was evidenced by my findings."

"So… a vengeful clinic worker?" Eames began musing.

"Maybe. These organs definitely came out with a practiced hand. It would have to be someone with surgical experience, or at the very least experience with a scalpel or a carving knife."

"If there was no record of where the procedure was done we need to find that out, let that be our jumping off point," Bobby started.

"So, all we have to do is get a list of free clinics, clinics that allow sliding scale payments, and clinics that are 'friendly' to the girls on the street. Fortunately, I know most of the names in the latter group," Eames finished.

Bobby looked at her knowingly and nodded.

"Thanks, doc, this is really helpful," Bobby concluded.

Eames smiled and with that they left the morgue. Silently at first, but finally Eames spoke up.

"Those poor women. They were all alone, and probably scared, they go to a place where they think they can get help and it turns out that the people who are supposed to help them are hurting them?"

The words came out bitterly and Bobby only semi-understood why. Ever since one of their earliest cases involving a pro-lifer named Dennis Griscom killed an abortion provider and Eames had been seemingly upset by the idea that A.D.A. Carver was pro-life he suspected she had had an abortion at some point in her life. She had never fully admitted it, however. Now, he figured, was not the time to ask personal questions.

"Let's go see if we can pull up a list of the clinics and providers who fit our criteria, shall we? Then we can start asking the important questions."

Eames nodded silently in response, giving nothing else away.

A/N2: The info. on how long it takes for the cervix to heal was courtesy of the Columbia University Health Services website, among other places. 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Not mine. This chapter is mostly setting things up for later on. I sort of feel like it doesn't go very far, but at the same time I feel it was a necessary chapter to move things forward. Constructive criticism always welcome.

A/N2: I'm so sorry for the delay in updating. Summer and work have both kept me exceptionally busy.

The list of clinic and doctors in the city that provided abortion services on a sliding fee scale and/or had a reputation for being exceptionally kind to the "working girls" was not particularly long. There were twenty "providers," so to speak, in all.

By the end of the day Goren and Eames had made it through the first eight names on the list. It wasn't terribly difficult work because all they had to do was show up with subpoena's allowing them to query the clinicians with whether or not they had ever treated any of the deceased. In the event that they had they were required to produce their medical records.

Only the sixth clinic they had visited had ever seen any of the girls, and it had been when they had offered free HIV testing two years earlier.

As they left the eighth clinic Eames let out a small yawn.

"I'm going to head home, rest up before I have to meet Julie later."

"You guys are going out again?"

"Well, after last nights mostly unsuccessful training… plus I need to ensure that Julie and Matt can work well together. If this guy has killed a girl every ten days then we only have eight more nights of practice. It's not a long time in the grand scheme of things."

Silence fell heavy then. Like a blanket on a king-sized bed that you could just get lost under.

Bobby broke first.

"I, uh, I'm gonna go back to the station and figure out the best plan of attack for tomorrow."

"Right. Listen, do you mind taking Matt with you on interviews tomorrow? I have some stuff I want to do with Julie. Some physical training."

"Uh, yeah that should be okay."

"Thanks. Okay… I'll, um, I'll see you later then."

With that Alex turned on her heel and walked in the direction of the One Police Plaza garage entrance, leaving Bobby to stare after her. He wanted to stop her, to hash things out then and there, but he refrained. He figured she had enough on her mind, and decided to let her go home and get a few hours sleep rather than tying them both into an emotional knot.

&

Alex's second outing with Julie and Matt went over slightly better than the first. If nothing else the pair managed not to air their differences in front of their coworkers. Still, it was apparent that differences existed. Alex realized that they were young and that because of this fact they had not yet learned how to hide their displeasure with one another from other people.

Julie for her part seemed to have at least gained some confidence over the course of the 24 hours that had passed and was slightly more aggressive. She brought in 7 out of the 10 'Johns' she encountered that night. By 3 a.m. it was drizzling and Alex decided they could all call it a night.

She was torn about what to do about Bobby. She was annoyed with him for not respecting her desire to wait until she was ready to talk but she also realized that she couldn't stay annoyed forever. She certainly knew she wasn't ready to risk what they had going for them in their personal lives because she was annoyed. Still, she wasn't ready to go crawl into bed with him.

Alex had decided that it would have been wrong on her part to get into bed with Bobby without feeling like she could be open and honest with him about everything that had happened to lead her to this point so far. Her history with Paul, her life with Joe… yes, those things were in the past but they still made her who she was.

So, unclear about how she would approach the situation, but sure that she wasn't ready for a middle of the night conversation about it, Alex steered her car in the direction of her own home. She figured that even if Bobby was there at least it was her own space and she could sleep on her own couch.

&

At 10:30 the next morning Alex woke feeling somewhat rested, somewhat refreshed. She had, in fact, come home to an empty house. While she still had some trouble walking into her house alone she was certainly not petrified of doing so.

A bowl of cereal, a well-worn pair of jeans, and a packed gym bag later Alex departed for One P.P. She had no need for a shower, as nice as it would have been to have one, not with what she was about to go do.

By the time she stepped off the elevator she was feeling almost a little excited. The adrenaline rush she got just from the thought of the gym put her in higher spirits. The thought of having a new recruit to train forced a small smile to form.

Nothing like some quality time with a punching bag to work out some serious stress.

Surveying the scene quickly Alex saw there was no sign of Matt and figured that soon the young man would be able to attest to the fact that when Bobby had a plan of action laid out he liked to start on it as early as possible. Further inspection found Julie at her desk filling out paperwork and looking somewhat at ease.

"Hey, Julie."

"Detective Eames, good morning. I wasn't expecting to see you until tonight, but then your partner called Matt and asked him to come help him do some interviews and relayed to me the message that you had some work to do with me today."

"You could say that. Get your stuff, we're going down to the gym."

"The gym?"

"Yes, Julie. It's a place where people go to get exercise. More specifically in this case it is the gym used by most of the cops based out of One Police Plaza with extensive training facilities in it."

"Right, I just… I meant… what are we going to do at the gym/? Race each other on the indoor track?"

"Duff, when I'm done with you you're going to wish that all you had to do was beat me in a race."

Julie paled slightly as the hamster wheel in her head began spinning rapidly with the possibilities of what was to come. Alex Eames was a detective known for always keeping her physique in prime condition.

Alex turned and headed back for the elevators, at which point Captain Kemp chose to exit his office.

"Detective Eames." His voice drifted across the Vice bullpen like a chilly fall wind.

"Captain Kemp," she acknowledged with disdain.

"Where you taking the young one today?"

"Down to the gym. I want to see what kind of physical skill she's got. This guys vicious and quick. If she picks him up a few nights from now I want to know that she is prepared."

"She's got the same training as everybody else in Vice, Eames."

"Yeah, well I don't think she has a captain that has concerned himself with making sure that every one of his officers stays current with their fitness training. You know, something that should be continually worked on even after the level of requirement is met?"

"Are you questioning my ability as a Captain, Detective? I can assure you that I want that pretty body to stay a pretty body otherwise what good is she to me?"

"She's not here to be your pretty body. She's here to be a cop and she doesn't have to be 'pretty' to do her job. There is more to fitness and training than being pretty. You'd do best if you remembered that."

Kemp stared long and hard at Alex. She figured that while he did outrank her that it wasn't his place to write her up for insubordination. She also figured that he wasn't going to engage in a pissing match with Ross over who got to be in charge of whom.

Kemp had always been a chauvinistic pig. In their tenure as partners he treated her like a second class citizen and it seemed that now, due to his rank, he treated all those around him as such and not just the women.

"Duff, you coming?" Alex called over her shoulder?

Julie materialized behind Alex and the two stepped onto the elevators, leaving Captain Kemp to stare after them.

When they arrived at the fitness facilities, which were located below street level at One PP, Julie suddenly appeared to hesitate. "So, uh, what exactly are we going to do down here?"

"Well, word is you got the same training as everyone else when you went through the Academy but that Kemp seems to have abandoned most of the rigorous training that we used to go through in Vice."

"We still do some…"

"I've heard, but it doesn't sound like it used to be. We used to go through the most rigorous training on the force, merely because we came into physical contact with perps every night. Anyway…" Alex began to trail off as they approached the boxing ring "this is my friend Dave."

Before Eames and Duff stood a man larger than even Eames' partner. Dave appeared to Julie to be half giant.

"Dave, this is my new friend Julie Duff. She's one of the girls they've got in Vice these days."

"Nice to meet you Julie." Dave extended one large hand to Julie, and it seemed to swallow hers whole.

"Nice to meet you, too, Dave." Alex watched as Julie seemed to wilt in the presence of the larger man. She hoped, after a day with Dave, Julie would have all the confidence she would ever need.

"So, Dave, what do you have planned for my new girl today?"

"Well I figured we'd review some basic self-defense techniques then maybe put her in the ring with one of my larger guys and see if she can take him down."

Sounds good to me, Alex thought. Her plan was to make sure Julie could handle herself properly with someone much larger than her. Then, later when they were out on the street again, Alex was going to have one Dave's larger male colleagues approach Julie on the street as a decoy 'John.' He would be a more aggressive 'John,' physically and Julie, in her the heat of the moment, would have to take him down unaware that he was actually a cop who would know where to draw the line before he could really hurt her.

This plan would also test Julie's partner, Matt. Eames wanted to see that Matt would react accordingly if he thought Julie was in real danger. She wanted to be sure, to be absolutely certain, that Matt would put his differences with Julie aside and come to her aid if she really needed him.

With only seven nights of practice left, fewer if this sicko decided to deviate from his previous pattern, Eames wanted everyone on their "A-game."

There was no more potent an ingredient for failure than a team at war with itself.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Still not mine.

A/N2: Sorry for the major delays. Life has taken over as usual. The next chapter is halfway finished and hopefully should be up by midweek barring any other craziness in life.

The rest of the days flew by. Alex was busy working with Julie and Matt on the street at night, and training Julie during the day. Bobby, for his part, had spent his days with Matt interviewing clinic workers and putting together a profile. At night, he was doing his bet to respect the distance that Alex had put between them.

There were three days and two nights left. After having interviewed all of the clinic workers and private practitioners that had the necessary skills to perform these hideous tasks so neatly, Bobby had whittled his list down to two potential suspects.

"Alex, I think I've narrowed it down to two and I've got a motive that fits both. Let me show you…"

"Let me guess, female doc finds out she can't have children and becomes vengeful?"

"No, actually. Although if that person existed within the parameters of our investigation they would certainly fit the bill. This is, however, along similar lines. We have two men. One is a doctor and the other is a nurse. Dr. Michael Milberg and David Baxter."

"A nurse? I wouldn't think they would have the surgical knowledge necessary to create such precise incisions and remove the organs so carefully."

"Yes, but my money's on that guy. He graduated from medical school and completed a surgical internship, but then left the program before completing his residency. He failed his intern exams to move him on to the next part of the program and declined to take it again."

"Okay…"

"Anyway, he has a wife who has been unable to conceive. Now, so does the doctor but he and his wife found success with in-vitro fertilization. So, Mr. Baxter might be jealous and outraged that these women who have been given what in his mind is a give would be so quick to get rid of it. That, coupled with the fact that he does have surgical experience…"

"So you think he has seen these women as they come in, and then finds them on the street at night? I mean that's a stretch because most of the girls don't reveal what they do…"

"No, but most of these girls don't have insurance and are receiving the services for free. It's not such a stretch to track them to some of the seediest areas in the city, areas known to be frequented by the working girl."

"Right."

"Anyway, I think we should test the waters on this. I think you should send Julie over to the East Side Women's Clinic to talk to speak with someone about her 'options.' I noticed that the clinic was understaffed and that there were only two nurses on duty. Now, I've asked around and usually the nurse or a clinic volunteer does a patient intake before the patient sees the doctor. Since the clinic is short on workers there is a high chance that Julie could end up speaking with Mr. Baxter. "

Alex got on the phone asked Julie to come up to major case. She explained that the clinic had walk-in hours from 3-5. After getting the girl equipped with a microphone so that they could listen in, they sent Julie and Matt to the clinic. It had been decided that Matt would wait outside in an SUV for Julie with an earpiece so that he could hear what was being said as well.

&

When Julie returned to the squad room with Matt at a little after six the only good news to report was that she had, in fact, met with David Baxter. On the down side, the partners were bickering again. While the two were smart enough to keep their mouths shut in front of Bobby and Alex, they still had not learned to adjust their body language.

"If you two have something you need to work out with each other there is a nice conference room just to your left."

Julie and Matt stared at each other for a second and then both made valiant attempts to let go of whatever had come between them. Julie briefed Alex and Bobby on the parts of her conversation with Baxter that couldn't be obtained on an audiotape. His body language, facial expressions, how his demeanor seemed to change when Julie told him that she had already had two previous abortions from times she had gotten pregnant while working down around 33rd street.

"Nice job, Julie. If he's our guy you've given the horse all he needs to be led to water. You can't make him drink but his own urges will take care of that."

Julie blushed as Bobby paid her this compliment and Alex suspected that it was one of the rare compliments she had been paid by a colleague since joining the NYPD.

&

The rest of the night went as the previous few had. Everyone went home for a nap and some dinner and then Alex, Matt and Julie returned to troll the streets for a little while. Alex hoped that the previous few nights lack of sleep weren't all for naught. She hoped that Julie was actually gaining the confidence Alex had been hoping to instill in her, and not just learning how to fake it.

It was after 3 a.m. when the problem happened. Alex had decided it was time to pack it in for the evening. It was also when she announced to Matt and Julie that they wouldn't be coming back out the next night.

"Why?"

It was a simple question from Julie's mouth. When it came out Alex likened it to that of a three year old looking for an explanation on how the world worked.

"I want everyone to be rested for when we go back out on Wednesday night. If Baxter is going to show himself that is going to be the night, according to the pattern of it being every tenth night so far. As of tonight eight nights have gone by. We've all been working on very little sleep. We have to be ready, and alert on Wednesday night."

"She's not ready."

The words were out of Matt's mouth before he could even think about not saying them.

"Matt. I thought we had this conversation already. You know, the one about not questioning your partner in public."

"She's not ready. She's not and it's for her safety that I'm saying this. For everyone's safety."

"I'm ready. I've been working hard and I. Am. Ready." Julie's words came out pointedly at the end. She looked at Matt with disgust as she said them, daring him to question her further.

And he did.

"You say that you are, but your nervousness shows through clear as day every night when you walk into the squad. You go and you put your make-up on and you do your best to cover it up, but I can see it. Isn't that what partner's are for? To see what's going on with the person they work the closest with? To protect them? Even if it means protecting them from themselves?"

"Yes, Matt. That is what it means. However, it also means backing them up. And if Julie says she's ready you have to trust her."

Alex's response was slow and deliberate. She was starting to realize that Matt wasn't as much of a jerk as she had mistaken him for. He was a little bit of a jerk, but he was also trying to protect his partner. She had spent a few days feeling like Matt must be similar to her former partner Kemp. This was because of his outburst and bullish ways the first night they had been on the street together and because he had been trained by the man. And while she didn't care for the way he was doing it now, she could certainly appreciate the fact that he showed some concern for his partner.

"If she says she's ready, she's ready. I'm done having this discussion. Let's everyone go home and get some rest. Come back around lunch time tomorrow and we'll discuss strategy for Wednesday night."

Alex left them with those words. The cracks in the relationship between Julie and Matt were digging at her more than she thought possible. They were making her realize the cracks between her and her own partner.

Between her and her best friend.

Grabbing her things she took off in the direction of her car. She steered it carefully along the early morning streets to Bobby's apartment. She bounded up the steps and let herself in, taking a deep breath after she closed the door behind her.

She toed off her shoes and padded down the hall to the bedroom where a Bobby-sized lump could be seen under the covers. The air conditioning had forced out the summer heat and humidity making it cool enough in the room that Alex wished for a sweater.

She sat herself down on the edge of the bed quietly, not sure what her next move was going to be. She didn't want to be so bold as to get into it with him, after having been emotionally distant with him all week. So she did the only other thing she could think of to do that would comfort them both.

"Wake up."

"Hmmmm…" came the groggy reply.

"Wake up. I can't take it anymore. I can't stand what I'm doing to you and to us. And I can't fall asleep until I get this off my chest. So wake up."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I don't own them.

A/N2: I am soooo sorry. My computer died literally two days after my last post, and unfortunately I am not allowed on at work (thank god, I would never get anything done). Hence the delay in updating. Anyway, the machine is all fixed now, so hopefully there won't be a huge break between posts this time.

& &

Bobby stirred at the sound of Alex's voice. He saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from him, her head in her hands.

"Alex?"

"I'm so sorry." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could even begin to get to why she was so bothered by everything that had gone on the past few days.

Bobby let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He sat up and slipped one hand under her t-shirt, wrapping it around her midsection, rubbing her stomach in a manner that could only be described as comforting.

"It's... it's okay. Just talk to me. That's all I want is for you to talk to me. I know that there is a lot about each other that we don't know, no matter how much we want to believe that we know it all. But I want you to share yourself with me."

He sat up, wrapping himself around her entirely. His legs pressed against hers, his arms curling around her belly, chin resting on top of her head. He felt her exhale and knew the words were coming like a flood.

"When Paul and I first worked together Joe was still alive. He hated that I worked vice if for no other reason than my own partner treated me like a piece of meat. He felt that I deserved more respect that that. I felt that way too, but I was happy in vice and I'm not one to complain. He just… he was a jerk. I learned to just ignore him. We never trusted each other completely but I always felt safe because it was rarely just him and i… we were usually on the street with a team of people."

Goren pulled his head away to lean to the side and catch her eye. He could see from that small glance that her thoughts were running rampant in her head but that knowing she had him there was a calming force.

"But then he wasn't just a jerk. He was also a judgmental prick. When Joe and I got married we were young. I got pregnant so quickly Bobby."

When those words came flying out of her mouth it gave Bobby pause. He'd always understood that at some point in her life she had had an abortion. He just hadn't assumed it was as a full blown adult.

"They… they don't know why but I miscarried. They assumed it was stress." She paused and took a shaky breath before continuing on. "I was upset, I was really devastated. Still, there was a part of me that was okay with it. I wasn't ready to have a baby. I was young and I wanted to be on firmer ground in my career before I started a family."

Bobby's fingers continued to circle Eames' abdomen in slow, rhythmic circles. Slowly she was beginning to relax back into his body, melding her flesh with his own.

"When Joe was killed they sent Paul to tell me. He tried to be kind about it, he did. We had been partners for a while at that point and as much as we didn't get along we could tolerate each other, and we could make our best efforts to be cordial. The problem was that he knew."

Bobby met her eyes again, puzzled as to what she was referring to. Begging her with a single look to fill in the blanks.

"He knew I was pregnant again. I hadn't been ready to tell anyone, but I told him because he was my partner and I wanted him to know in case anything happened to me while we were out on the streets."

Bobby didn't understand. He didn't understand what Paul knowing that Eames had been pregnant and Paul telling her about Joe's death had to do with one another.

"I couldn't Bobby. I just couldn't. I wasn't that strong. I was in a terrible place at the time. I knew I couldn't have a child on my own. So I did it. I had an abortion. Not as some young girl who got pregnant by accident and did it because she had to, but as an educated full grown woman aware of her choices."

He pulled her tighter against him, signaling that it was okay. That he would never, ever be the one to judge her choices. He suspected that some others weren't as respectful.

"So he knew. He knew that I had an abortion. Because one day I was pregnant, and then the next I wasn't." She paused again, gathering her own strength. "He couldn't get past it. He would make off-the-cuff backhanded remarks. It was none of his business but he decided that since I lacked a man in my life to take care of me that someone had to put me in my place. God, what an ass he was."

"Alex…"

"No. It gets better. It was a dark time for me. I was torn up about my husband, my baby, my everything. My life just didn't function normally at that point. I drank. A lot. Frequently. One night I was at this total dive bar not far from my house. I was absolutely wrecked. The bartender was concerned for me, he must have been or he wouldn't have called the most frequently dialed number in my phone."

Bobby knew instantly that the number had been Paul's. Your partner's number was always your most frequently dialed, you spent so much time trying to be in touch with them.

"So Paul came down there. He was in fine shape himself, having had more than his share of drinks I'm sure. Still, he's a big guy and at 6'1" it takes a lot more to get him drunk then it does me at 5'2". He had his hands all over my arms. He was trying to comfort me and hit on me at the same time. It was like he couldn't help himself. As much as he despised me for the abortion I was an easy target. I was alone, depressed, drunk."

Bobby's stomach started to churn at the thought of what may have happened between Alex and Paul.

"The bartender was real eager to have me out of there. He didn't want me passing out or getting sick in the place and thought he had done me a favor by calling a 'friend' to come get me. So Paul dragged me out the door and he started us down the block towards his car. But I just knew, I just knew I didn't want to be trapped in his car with him I knew it was a bad idea. So I was resisting, letting my body hang as dead weight which wasn't hard in my inebriated state."

Goren moved one hand out from under her shirt and wrapped it around Eames' shoulders, pulling her back into him. He didn't know what else to do other than to let her feel his strength.

"Finally he stopped and told me he was sick of dragging me, and that if he couldn't get me to his car we'd never have a good time. I told him if I wanted to have a good time I knew where to find my left hand."

Goren had to laugh at this. Even drunk it was just the thing that would come out of Eames' mouth when she was angry.

"The following Monday I asked for a new partner. That was the start of my being partnered with McDowell for a year."

"I understand your angry, baby, but I don't understand why this case is under your skin so much."

"Paul Kemp despises women. He enjoyed working vice because he liked putting the girls behind bars, not trying to help them find something more in life. He particularly despises women who have had abortions. This case is combining the things he hates most in life. Having to help save women who are working the streets and having to stop someone who is victimizing people because they've had abortions."

"Alex, it's a power play. Can't you see that? He wants to show he is the 'King of the Castle' so to speak. He's a newly minted Captain and he wants to prove his worth. So he's calling on his best assets, even if he doesn't want to admit that they are assets at all. In this case it means calling in some of his old contacts."

A sense of feeling petty and small overwhelmed Alex then. Suddenly confused by how she had allowed her emotions to get the best of her all these days she started to pull away from Bobby.

But he was the one who knew her better than others.

"It's okay." The whisper came past her ear and startled her out of her reverie. "It's okay to get pissed off. Old feelings come back to haunt us when we least encounter people from our past. Things we think we've buried, we discover they're just simmering below the surface."

Exhaling deeply Eames finally felt herself relax. She turned herself sideways and buried her face in Bobby's neck.

"I'm so sorry. I've been acting like a little schoolgirl, keeping my emotions from you, being petty…"

"And it's fine. Everyone gets like this, god knows I do. It's human nature. But in the end you opened up to me, you let me in. We're learning how to do this together, how to be in this together as more than just partner's on the job and that involves letting each other in on parts of our past, letting each other in enough so that we can come home together at night and put the day behind us. We're getting there."

The confidence with which he spoke those words sparked surprise in his own mind, but then he realized he believed his own words and that was the most shocking part of all.

"Let's lie down. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, making sure Matt and Julie can act the way partners are supposed to act and aren't just scratching the surface of trust. You want them to have more than what you had with Paul, I can see that is part of what's bothering you. That he's breeding teams who don't work well together. We can fix that. But for now let's just be here, with each other."

Grabbing her by the hips he pulled her all the way onto the bed. She rolled over to meet him halfway. The way partners do.

The rest was what they had been missing for the last eight days.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Still don't own them.

A/N2: Shorter than usual chapter. I should have another up by the end of the weekend.

When she awoke the next morning it was due to the strong smell of coffee wafting towards her nostrils. Instinctively she reached across the bed, but she wasn't surprised when she found it empty. Hearing the mug meet the bedside table she rolled back the other way and opened one eye slowly.

Bobby loomed large above the bed, dressed for the day in a charcoal gray suit. Alex's eye shifted instinctively towards the clock.

"It's already eight-thirty," she started, "you're going to be late."

"That's okay. Besides, my partner's been getting in around eleven these days and I get lonely." He chuckled as the words came out of his mouth.

Bending to smooth the stray locks out of her face, he took the time to lean in and kiss her temple.

"I do have to go but I wanted to make sure you got your morning fix before I went, you're hell without your caffeine."

She smiled and turned to meet his mouth.

"Sure I can't convince you to stay?"

"Sorry, I have a mound of paperwork and a Captain begging me to take care of it. And by begging, I mean ordering."

Eames gave him one last smile before he turned to leave. She could appreciate him doing the paperwork, but what she appreciated most was his concerted effort to play nice in the sandbox with their new Captain.

She flopped backwards onto the pillows, not really ready to get up yet. With the hours she had been keeping recently she hadn't been getting into work until 10:30 or 11:00. Rolling away from the cup of coffee she curled her body around Bobby's pillow, enjoying the feeling of nearness that it brought.

The night before had come as an extreme relief. She had forgotten what it felt like to bottle her feelings up for so long only to relieve the stress later, having become accustomed to being able to share whatever was on her mind with Goren.

Her mind drifted back to the last conversation she had with Matt and Julie. Eames paused for a moment, trying hard to put her finger on whether or not she believed Julie to be ready for her upcoming undercover operation. The girl had gained confidence over the last few days that Alex had spent with her, she was beginning to shed her little girl image. Still, this coupled with the fact that her partner didn't feel that she was ready gave Alex a slightly nervous feeling.

Matt had come off as a jerk at first, even a little rough around the edges. Still, his jagged edges had given way to genuine concern and while Alex would have preferred that he discuss it with Julie in private before having an openly confrontational conversation in front of fellow officers.

Part of Eames wanted to side with Matt purely because of the fact that he was trying to protect Julie. Another part of Eames felt mildly offended at the idea that a woman needed some kind of special protection and the chauvinistic undertones of what Matt had said. A third part truly believed Julie was ready for the mission, as ready as one could be for something you can never really be totally ready for. The last part of Eames didn't know if Julie was ready, didn't know if she was cut out for the job, and it had nothing to do with Matt's opinion.

Unable to get a firm grip on which side of the proverbial line she was on Alex pushed herself off the bed and made for the shower. She was a firm believer in the fact that everything always seemed clearer after a long, hot shower.

& &

At around 10:45a.m. Alex strolled through the doors of Major Case. Situating herself at her desk opposite Bobby she closed her eyes and wished she was back in the confines of Bobby's apartment, letting sleep take the wheel.

"I don't know what to do or who to listen to. Matt doesn't think Julie is ready, and Julie thinks she is very ready, and I don't know what I think."

Goren looked across the desks and at his partner's wrinkled brow.

"You don't know what you think? You have an opinion on everything. You don't always share it, but it's always there."

Eames sighed audibly and hesitated. Goren watched as she pondered the choices laid in front of her.

"I think she's ready. But I don't know if I think that because I want her to be ready or if it is because she is actually ready."

"You're dancing in circles here. I don't think you would ever consider letting her go out there if you didn't think she was actually ready."

"Yeah, but I can't tell if her confidence is the real deal or not. When I was in Vice someone told me to 'fake it until you make it,' and I did for a while. I just don't think I was forced to grapple with anything this big until I did make it."

"I think for some people they don't gain that confidence until they are faced with a challenge that they must meet head on. I think in the moment the adrenaline kicks in and you find that confidence within yourself, especially if you have been trained as a police officer. I think she's almost there, and I think this could be the moment when she comes out of her shell. I also think you are finding your confidence in your abilities as a teacher. You may find that this could be your shining moment in that respect, as well."

It was then that Alex noticed Duff and Hartley walking towards them.

"Morning, guys."

There was an awkward pause while Julie and Matt exchanged glances.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

Bobby glanced up from his paperwork and gave them both a smile.

"Guys, why don't we go in the conference room over there," Alex said, pointing to the room directly across from her desk.

The group moved off, leaving Bobby at his desk.

"Okay. So, Julie do you feel ready? I mean really ready. Not sorta kinda ready, but ready ready."

"Um…"

"No, see, not what I'm looking for."

"This is my point," Matt's voice interjected like a bolt of lightening. "She hesitates, and you can't hesitate in these situations."

"He's right."

"I'm ready, I really am. I'm just not in the right mindset at 11:00 a.m."

"You have to be in the right mindset all the time, Julie. But that's only half of it. Your partner has to back you up all the time." With that she threw a glance in the direction of Matt, making sure he understood that he had to back Julie up if she said she was ready, at least while Alex was in the room. It went back to what she had told him about not arguing with each other in front of other officers.

Both partners nodded their heads in understanding.

"Okay, good. Let's get started, we have a lot to go over."

Alex taped the photo of their suspect to the white board.

It was going to be a long day but the challenges that would be presented the following evening would prove to make for an even longer night.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I don't own them. They belong to minds more creative than my own.

Even though it was the middle of summer the damp, warm air had an undeniable chill to it. It fit with the theme of the evening, really. The whole air of the night had a cold, uneasy feeling to it.

Julie wore strappy, cheap-looking, gold, stiletto heels and a faux leather, black halter mini-dress that was cut low down the front. A wireless microphone dangled between her breasts, disguised as a gold locket. Her hair had been curled and pumped with enough volume to hide her earpiece.

She was marching evenly back and forth down 11th avenue between 32nd and 33rd streets. Head up, shoulders back. Julie Kemp exuded the confidence that Alex had so hoped for.

There were two unmarked vans parked a block and a half away from the block Julie was strolling in either direction. One held Alex, Bobby and Officers Nelson and Richardson, the guys from Vice who had been coming out with Alex, Julie and Matt in the evenings. The other held Kemp and three of his other Vice squad members. Three back-up squad cars patrolled the area circling a five-block radius in turn.

Their only blind spot was an alley that cut midway through the block. There was only one entrance to the alley, on 11th avenue, but it was possible for someone to come through from one of the surrounding buildings. To account for this there were two officers positioned on the roof of one of the buildings, but due to their height and the darkness of the alley below it was hard for them to see anything at all.

Through binoculars Alex could see Julie clearly. They kept their distance so as to be sure not to alert their suspect to their presence. It had been three hours and so far… nothing. Bobby could tell that Julie's feet were starting to get tired by the way she was walking, her steps getting deliberately slower, and by the way she would from time to time stop and lean against a street light.

"John Doe approaching from the South." Kemp's voice came clearly over the radio.

"Got a visual?" Matt responded.

"Couldn't get a good look. He seemed to come out of the shadows from around the corner on 31st street. Could be our guy though."

Alex stared hard through the binoculars but the man appeared to be wearing a hooded sweatshirt and in the darkness she couldn't get a good look at his face.

"You need something, sugar?" Julie's voice dripped like honey over the wire.

The man appeared to pause as if in thought, but then just moved on.

Eames let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. As much as she wanted their suspect to come along she also felt like a mother protecting her young, and she didn't want to let her out into the world unprepared.

Julie began walking the block again in a slow, deliberate manner. Occasionally she would glance over her shoulder to make sure no one had come around the corner or out of the alley and was making their way up behind her unannounced.

Matt, for his part, was decidedly uneasy at being positioned so far away from his partner. It was on this night that for the first time he felt as though he had a responsibility to this woman.

Nelson stepped out of the back of the van for a smoke and Goren followed him, unable to confine his restlessness to the vehicle. He leaned against the edge of the van on the street side, facing south, looking to where Julie was pacing her own block. In the isolation of the night and the area of town they were in he could see her even from a block and a half away. There were no cars obstructing his view. He would lose sight of her as she moved to the midpoint on her block but Goren took comfort in the fact that Kemp and the others could then see her coming and going on the other end.

& &

_Deep breaths. Slow, deep breaths._ In her mind Julie Kemp could comfort herself. She could talk to herself and pretend she was not alone on the poorly lit street waiting for a madman.

In reality she was very alone. Sure, there was back-up all around her but a lot could happen in the seconds it would take for them to tighten the noose around their suspect.

She tried hard to hide her nervousness. She knew the old saying "fake it until you make it" and she really believed she could talk herself into a higher level of confidence. It had worked, to a point. Maybe to a fault. If something happened to her tonight would she have anyone to blame other than herself, she wondered.

When her partner Matt Hartley had first said she was not ready she was offended. It made her blood boil to be told she wasn't up to the challenge by a male colleague. Still, once she got past her initial stubbornness in her own head she could reconcile the fact that maybe he was right.

She reflected on the fact that in the academy one of her instructors once told her that "the adrenaline would kick in" and she would "know what to do even in the scariest of situations," that it was in "the way NYPD Officers were built."

Her steps were being taken slowly. She was trying to figure out a way to lessen the pressure on her feet. In choosing her shoes she had gone for those that had the most sex appeal and not those that were most practical for walking for extended periods of time.

She was unsure of how much more she could take of this endless pacing. On what was usually a block filled with other working girls at this hour the night had taken on a deafening silence. In the hours she had been on the street only a handful of potential Johns had come by, none yielding any of the desired result.

Over her wire she could here the occasional comment between the vans, her colleagues keeping one another appraised of their surroundings. Still, people were running out of idle chitchat at this hour.

The wind blew suddenly sending the warm, damp air through her hair. It was almost enough to distract her from her own thoughts.

She was walking towards the North, heading up to the 33rd street end of the block.

A creepy chill passed over her, but she couldn't tell if it was merely that feeling you got when you were alone on a street in New York City.

As she moved past the alley the sensation came over her that someone was on the block with her, following her.

She wheeled around quickly to see if anyone was there.

That's when the world went black.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I don't own them.

A/N2: A happy belated birthday to Scripted Starlet.

Through fluttering slits of eyelids she could make out the horrible lighting and sterile white walls that were unmistakably those of a hospital. Letting out a small groan she turned her head to the right to where a petite woman was seated by her side.

Slumped over in her chair, hair falling in her face, breathing slow and even that woman was none other than Alex Eames. Upon hearing the slight moan escape the dry, parted lips of the limp body in the bed she wakened immediately. Glancing her head quickly around the room she could see by the way the sunlight was coming through the window that it was after noon.

"Al- Alex?"

"Julie. They didn't think you'd wake up so soon."

She rose out of the chair, moved around to the other side of the bed and poured water into a tall plastic cup with a straw. Pushing the straw Julie's lips the girl gulped the water down gratefully.

"What happened?"

"You were hit over the head, it seems most likely that it was with a baseball bat. Then you were dragged back down that alley, but as soon as your partner Hartley saw you go down he yelled it over the wire. The guys on the roof started firing blindly into the alley. They couldn't get a good look at anything from how far up they were. Still, it was enough to scare our perp off."

Seeing how nervous Julie seemed to appear Alex laid a hand on the girls shoulder and lowered herself onto the edge of the bed.

"It wasn't your fault, Duff. You were as prepared as you could have been. For a guy to pop out of the shadows as quickly as this one appeared to, hit you over the head with a bat and run for it… you were as prepared for that as anyone could have been."

Even as she said it, Eames didn't know who she was trying to reassure more: herself or the girl who lay injured before her.

"Where- where did he go?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Baxter. Where did he go?"

"Back inside of the building. That was the only place he could have gone, the only other way out of that alley would have been to go out onto the street and one of us would have taken him down at that point."

"So… what happens now?"

"Goren, Hartley and a couple of the other guys spent the rest of the night canvassing the building. Waking up residents and trying to smoke the guy out. Since we had a patrol car posted outside they would have seen him had he gone out the main exit. We had the back alley covered so we're not sure how this guy disappeared into thin air."

"Someone's protecting him?"

"Maybe. Goren doesn't think it likely. Not that he's the voice of god, but he tends to be right when it comes to this profiling business."

Julie nodded and then looked away from Alex.

"Look. It's really going to be okay. We're going to get this guy. You're going to get back on your feet and we're going to get this guy. Cops don't like it when one of their own is the victim. Every man on the street is on the lookout for this piece of scum. I promise you he isn't going to last much longer."

Alex squeezed the young woman's hand firmly, a sign of the solidarity between the detectives.

"Eh-hem." The throat-clearing coming in the direction of the door drew the attention of the women away from each other.

A disheveled, tired looking Matt Hartley stood unsure of himself in the doorway. He had never before experienced the deluge of emotions that accompanied a partner being injured.

"Hi, Hartley. Good of you to come by before going home for some rest. I know it's been a long night." Eames didn't think that anyone should have to be thanked for coming to visit their partner, she felt that it was just something you did. Still, she wanted to let the young man know that he was in fact doing the right thing.

"You can go get some rest yourself, Detective Eames, if you'd like. I can sit here for a while. I don't mind."

"That's good of you Matt. I may just take you up on that."

Standing up she squeezed Julie's hand one last time and gave her a knowing look. She wasn't going to give up until she found this guy.

Stepping out into the hall and moving towards the hospital elevator she was unexpectedly greeted by Paul Kemp.

"Detective."

"Captain Kemp."

"So. What now? What great idea do you have next?"

"I'm sorry, do I detect a note of sarcasm in your voice?:

"I was bringing you in because I thought you could make a contribution here. I thought we would have had this guy off the street by now. Instead, I have one of my best officers in a hospital bed, and I'm scratching my head wondering why I brought you here in the first place."

"You've got some nerve, you know? I didn't take this case to help you, I took this case because I think it's my job to serve and protect this city. I'm sorry if I'm not living up to your expectations in the speed and grace departments."

"I guess I just expected too much from you. I'm still trying to figure out how you qualified for Major Case anyway."

_What is this guy, five years old? Is he bitter because I made Major Case and he didn't? I mean my god it is not as if he hasn't advanced at all in life. _

"I'm done here. When you have something constructive that you want to contribute to the case that you are supposed to be running, you know where you can find me."

With that she turned on her heel and headed into the midday sun. She was exhausted but restless and knew that going home now wouldn't yield any positive results.

& &

Goren had gone back to One PP after scouring the buildings that surrounded the alley on 11th avenue in the 30's. He was trying to work out in his mind where on earth Baxter could have disappeared to, but it the ideas weren't coming.

Realizing that it was already 4p.m. and he hadn't yet heard from Eames, Goren decided to head back to her house. His mind drifted towards his petite partner as he drove, wondering how she was holding up.

He had been unable to read her earlier in the day when they had parted ways before dawn, her following Julie to the hospital and he staying behind to canvass the building with Hartley. It had been an exhausting ten days for her, he knew, but it did not seem that it was going to stop here.

He hadn't been able to tell how much guilt she was harboring over what had happened to her newest trainee. But, he knew that between the two of them he generally held the corner on making himself feel guilty regarding situations over which he had no control. Still, it was human nature and while maybe it wasn't her initial reaction he knew Eames was probably feeling somewhat bad about the young lady lying in the hospital bed as a result of some of the city's finest pond scum.

Entering Eames' darkened house Goren stepped quietly as he could across the wooden floors, fearing he would wake her if she was sleeping. However, when he got to the bedroom he found it empty, the bed made.

He glanced around quickly, wondering if maybe she was still at the hospital with Julie or where she would have gone if she wasn't there.

Reaching for his phone the cellular device beat him to the punch, emitting its bland ring.

Glancing at the caller ID he saw that it was the main line from the operator at One PP.

"Goren."

"Detective Goren?"

"Yeah."

"It's Brett Collins at the front desk of One PP. It's your partner. I've been told to tell you that she's snapped before you could."


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I don't own them.

The summer sun was turning the sky a rainbow of different hues by the time Goren made it back to One Police Plaza from Eames' house in Rockaway. It had taken him over an hour and a half in both directions because of rush hour traffic.

He parked in the first spot in could find and rode the elevator to the eleventh floor. Eames was not to be found at her desk and further investigation showed she wasn't even on the floor. No one at Major Case had seen the petite detective all day.

Riding the elevator back down to the lobby Goren couldn't help but wonder if Eames had left the building. He knew that then she could be impossible to find if she didn't want to be found. She was almost as creative in her thinking as he was and she knew more of the cities good hiding spots than anyone he had ever met.

"Hey, Collins." As the elevator doors opened Goren grabbed the lobby attendants attention as quickly as he could.

"Goren. Did you see her?"

"No, I went up to eleven but she wasn't there and no one has seen her all day."

"Yeah, she didn't go upstairs when she came in. She went down. That was at about three. When I called you the guys down in the gym had called and said she had been down there for over two hours. That was at 5:30. It's a few minutes after 7:00 now. They said she was down their with a punching bag. She –"

"Right, got it."

He cut the man off and rounded on his heel to wait for the elevator to arrive to shuttle him down to the basement level gym. When the doors opened he hurried out and down the hall.

There, off to the right side of the main gym area, was Alex Eames. She wasn't just punching a bag, she was completely demolishing it. He could see where the sweat had pooled on her lower back and in between her breasts, and where her forehead was damp at the hairline.

Focusing his eyes further on the sight before him he realized that Alex had no gloves on. Not even any wraps. Blood had run down to her wrists and arms from her knuckles, which were a raw and angry shade of red.

Bobby knew that by approaching he was doing so at his own risk. While there were only a handful of other people in the gym, most too engrossed in their own workouts to notice what was going on around them, he knew that if he tried to reach out to her with their colleagues present Eames would knock him flat on his back. And that would be if he were lucky.

Without him having said a word she knew he was there.

"It's not fair, you know?"

"Al- Eames," he corrected himself quickly, reminding himself that she was his partner here in this building. "There was nothing you could have done. She was ready. You wouldn't have let her go out there if she hadn't been."

"That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, it sort of is. But it isn't, you know."

For the first time she looked in his direction and he could see the rage in her eyes.

"I don't know who I'm more mad at. Baxter for what he's done to all those women, and now Julie? Or Kemp, for his demeaning attitude towards women which is something that in our society contributes to how so many of these girls end up where they do. People like Kemp make them feel completely worthless their whole lives and they end up doing on the street selling their bodies to the first guy who will look their way."

"Is that how you're feeling, worthless?"

"No. No, what I'm feeling is mad. Mad as hell. I'm lucky, Goren. I was raised by a family and particularly a father who reminded me constantly that I could do and be whatever I wanted. So many people are so much less fortunate in that respect."

He looked at her and nodded, and she knew that he understood from his own experiences.

"Kemp makes these girls think that they are less than him, beneath him. And not just in the Captain-Detective sense. He makes them think they are really below him. He treated me like a second-class citizen when we worked together, and that's how he's treating me now. Worse, I'm sure it's how he's treated Julie. I know better now and I know what I'm capable of. Julie, she's lacking in the self-confidence department and the last thing she needs is to be kicked when she's down. If there was a little more positive reinforcement from her own team leader and not only from me, a detective she barely knows, I'm sure she would have been even more prepared then she was."

He didn't know what to say. He wanted to comfort her and let her know that it was a good thing that she realized that it wasn't all her fault. He wanted to let her know that it was a good thing that she wasn't taking responsibility for things that were out of her control. But, he knew that none of those things would make her feel better.

"Plus, Baxter. He's still out there, you know? Waiting for the next girl, picking out his next victim right now. I mean, god, Bobby he's meeting women right now while he's at work and we have no way of warning them, no way of getting them out of his line of sight."

He watched as she continued to pound the bag. Harder and harder. It was like her energy hadn't waned at all, not even after going at it for hours and hours. Noticing again her mangled hands and the blood he decided he had to put a stop to her self-inflicted anguish.

He glanced around to see how many people were left in the gym, and wondered silently how mad she would be in mere seconds.

Stepping in front of the bag he grabbed her left wrist as it jabbed out again towards it's target.

"Ea- Alex," he lowered his voice for good measure, "you're bleeding. Your hand 's are a mess."

"Yeah… it's doesn't hurt that much."

"Maybe not now because they're probably numb from the pain, but they'll hurt a lot more later and if they get infected…" he was noticing the sweat and dirt particles that were catching in the wounds.

She looked away from him, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"Why don't you get your stuff. We can go home and I'll clean these wounds for you after you shower."

Nodding silently in the direction of no one, she extracted her wrist from his grip and wandered off to retrieve her bag.

& &

After a scalding hot shower that left her skin mottled and pruned Alex found herself seated on the edge of the bathtub and wrapped in a fluffy towel as Bobby kneeled in front of her and patched up her wounds. Her eyes closed, she tried to wrap her mind around the events of the previous ten days while trying to pay at least some attention to Bobby's chattering.

Bobby rambled aimlessly about the search through the building that he and Hartley had been on earlier in the day. Alex, for her part, was mostly silent making only a few hissing noises as Bobby cleaned her raw knuckles with hydrogen peroxide.

As he covered tiny joints with Neosporin and wrapped gauze around small hands he realized that he had to provide the solution to her brooding. He had to do what he knew was best, even if it was what he wanted least. He knew that she wasn't eager to push the boundaries of her safety zone right now and so she wouldn't say what was on her mind for fear it would cause controversy between them. So, he said it for her.

"It has to be you."

Her eyelids snapped open as she was drawn out of her reverie by five words.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It has to be you. You have to bait Baxter. You've been out of Vice for years and you're still the best there is. It has to be you."

It was as if he had just told her that she was the most beautiful woman alive. Her eyes widened and sparkled with mischief as she nodded her head in agreement.

Putting her bandaged hands on his shoulders she moved to straddle him on the floor. She decided to show him her gratitude for doing what she knew was difficult as she let her towel fall away.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I don't own them.

A/N2: Hopefully there will be another chapter up by the end of the weekend, after that updates will get sporadic again as I will be working hard and traveling a lot for most of October/beginning of November. My goal is at least one new chapter per week-10 days. So hang in there, this won't go unfinished.

There were tangled arms and legs when she awoke. The central air in the house made goose bumps appear on her shoulder, which was peaking out above the comforter.

It was early yet, the sun hadn't even risen. A glance at the clock showed it to be only 5:00 a.m.

Her stomach growled and she wished not for the first time that there was a mini-fridge within arms reach of her bed. The pair had been asleep relatively early, not bothering to eat dinner once they had finished their lovemaking.

"Hungry?"

Turning in the direction of the voice she placed a soft kiss on his warm sternum.

"Yes. Very. But… I'm happy to just be here with you."

"I can make something. I'm sure between the can of soup, the box of macaroni and cheese, and the cereal you keep in this house we can find a way to put food in your stomach."

"Don't mock my idea of a stocked pantry. I like to keep it simple. And who doesn't like macaroni and cheese?"

Goren gave a hearty chuckle and wrapped his arms tighter around his pint-sized partner's body.

"Seriously though, if you want me to get up and make something I will. Or we can call for delivery, that diner a few blocks from here delivers 24 hours."

"Mmmm. Pancakes, that sounds good. But, we need to get up I think. We need to get to work."

"It's 5:00 a.m."

"I know… I just… I think this is the first time that I've ever felt more restless than you."

"I have to admit, I'm somewhat shocked that you're awake right now. I was enjoying watching you sleep, but I didn't expect to get to enjoy your company at this hour."

She smiled in his chest, taking a moment to realize what he was getting at. That so rarely did they get to have these moments with each other where there was nothing else going on, where the world outside wasn't pounding on the door trying to invade the peace within.

"Don't get up now." His voice came as a whisper of a breath moving past her ear. "Stay, if you get up now, you'll be half spent before noon. Let's just lie here for a little while. We're not in a rush… at 5:00 a.m. Baxter isn't meeting any prospective prey. If you wait a while you can get up fresh, we can go down to One PP and then you can go down to the clinic which is what I know you are itching to do."

"You, telling me to wait and stay in bed? It must be a cold day in hell when you have more patience than I do."

As she said the words she knew he was right. His fingers tracing slow circles on her back were lulling her back to sleep and she knew that as much as she wanted to catch Baxter she wanted even more to ignore the world for a little while longer.

&

"Hi I'm David. David Baxter. I'm going to do your intake before the doctor sees you."

"I'm Alexis. Alexis Smith."

Eames was going through the motions. She knew most working girls didn't give out their real last names, more often opting to use something generic, so she did the same to tip Baxter off that she was a "working girl."

"So, Ms. Smith, what brings you in today?"

"I think I might be pregnant."

"Well. Congratulations."

"No, not exactly. I don't want a baby. This was an accident. I don't even think I could narrow down who the dad might be."

She was doing everything in her power to convey to Baxter that if she were pregnant she certainly wouldn't be having the baby. She wanted him to see her as he saw the rest of his victims. As a whore.

"I see." Baxter's voice had take on a frigid tone. "Well, why don't you go give us a urine sample while I go over the medical history questionnaire you filled out. While you're gone I'll pray you're not pregnant."

"Yeah, you and me both."

She couldn't believe that the nurse practitioner actually had the never to say that to someone he believed to be a patient of a pro-choice clinic. She wondered if he made all of his patients feel so alienated, and couldn't help but ponder how she would feel if she was actually scared and pregnant and seeking help and advice.

Leaving the room she couldn't help but notice her sterile surroundings. White walls, white floor, white ceiling, white light. The clinic was a blank canvass for the imagination. It wasn't hard to imagine someone going crazy from the emptiness of their surroundings. Nothing to stare at, nothing to consider.

When she returned with the urine sample that she had gotten from one of the pregnant secretaries at One PP and had been storing in a small Tupperware container in her pocket book she noticed Baxter glaring harshly at her hands.

"You want to know what happened?"

"I'll admit I'm a little curious about your bandages."

"I got in a fight with a John the other night. Ended up scraping my knuckles along the pavement. One of the girls did a bang-up job bandaging them for me."

"Why do you do what you do?"

The question was direct, invasive and totally unexpected.

"Well. I never had much in my life and I never had a lot of opportunities. I figure it's okay if I use what I already have naturally to make a living."

Gesturing towards her body she felt like she had jut scored a major victory on the road to making her story believable.

"Right, well, the Doctor will be in in a few moments to talk to you."

Baxter left, taking the chilly feeling out of the room with him.

At the end of her visit she scheduled a follow-up appointment to discuss the results of her pregnancy test and her various options with the Doctor. She did this through Baxter, and he gave her a nasty glance when she said she wanted to discuss her "options."

"What options, Ms. Smith?"

"I don't want a baby, not that it's any of your business."

As she left the clinic she had never felt so judged in her life. Even if part of her, at this point in her life, did want a baby she certainly was staunchly pro-choice and wouldn't presume to pass judgment on any woman's decision regardless of what that decision may be. Life had a tendency to land you in funny places and she had been placed in more than a few of those spots. Who knew what brought each woman to choose the path they took.

It was a steamy afternoon but a chill passed through her body as Eames considered her own thoughts.

&

When they went out on the street later that night so that Eames could get in the first of what would be a few practice rounds she was like nothing Goren had ever seen.

He had parked himself in the van with Hartley, Kemp and a few of Kemp's other men. They were all piped in to Eames' microphone and she was wearing an earpiece that allowed her to communicate with them.

She had been silent for the most part but gave the occasional chuckle or sigh of acknowledgement. As Goren watched her stroll the street via the small, unnoticeable camera that they had the tech unit install on the top of the van he realized that she played the part of the coked out loner looking for he next fix very well.

There were a few other girls clustered together on the far end of the block, but Eames made no moves to socialize with them. She would walk towards their end and give them a predatory glance, like an animal staking out their territory. It occurred to Goren then that while Eames did have a reputation for helping out the girls on the street that in this case she was trying to ward them off, trying to send them away.

He realized that had circumstances been different she might have warned them that she was a cop. He further understood that she wasn't saying anything now because she wanted to be able to prowl this strip of Manhattan for the next nine nights undisturbed, without rumors circulating that the cops were lurking in the area. She wanted to make sure her prey came back.

Alex Eames walked in her trashy hooker heels like they were custom made for her feet. Her red mini-dress with the deep-V down to her belly button elongated her torso, and her fingernails the she had painted black matched the dark liner and shadow that rounded her eyes. She had smudged just enough dark shadow into the flesh of her under-eye circles that it looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. A few caffeine pills dilated her eyes so she looked like she was just a little bit off kilter, maybe like she had done a line or two but was aching for more. The bandages on her hands gave the allure of an even more hardened edge.

A small pistol strapped to the inside of her thigh gave her an extra boost of confidence no one thought she needed. But, it did put everyone at a little more ease.

She managed to corral a half dozen unsuspecting 'Johns' in the three and a half hours she spent on the street merely by leading them around the corner, halfway down the block and into a second waiting van. Of the men she solicited, there were none that got away.

When she decided around 3:30 in the morning that it was time to pack it in for the night there was no one in the van who thought she had lost her touch over the years. Goren, had he not known better, would have thought that maybe she had Dissociative Identity Disorder based on her seamless transition from her real self to the role she was playing.

The group returned briefly to One PP before all parting ways for the night. Eames, after changing her clothes, had run back up to the eleventh floor to retrieve a copy of their case file from her desk. Goren had said he would pull the car around the side of the building so that no one would see them leaving together.

The elevator came to a halt on the fourth floor as she rode it back down to the lobby. None other than Paul Kemp stepped on to join her. As he pressed the button for the lower level of the parking garage he gave a snide glance in her direction.

"You looked pretty hot and sexy out there tonight, maybe you should think about a career switch."

As the door opened with a chime on the lobby she looked back and gave a laugh.

"No amount of money could buy you a piece of this, not all the money in the world."


	15. Chapter 15

A/N1: I don't own them.

A/N2: Hopefully I will be able to update again before the end of the week, but no promises. Happy reading!

"You're not sleeping."

"No," came her soft response, "but in my defense, neither are you."

"What are you thinking about?"

She rolled over to face him before she responded, taking in the look on his face bathed in the early morning light.

"Baxter. What are you thinking about?"

"You not sleeping. And… Baxter." The admission came after a pause. Goren didn't want Eames to know how worried he actually was, no matter how sure he was of her abilities. He didn't want her to know he was worried because he didn't want her to worry and didn't want to stress her any more than need be.

"What about Baxter?"

"Honestly, Eames, I'm getting a little nervous. This guy had to break his pattern when he didn't get to finish Julie. Killers like this, ones who derive some sort of comfort from sticking to a plan, can become very erratic. I don't think he can wait the full ten days this time to finish the job."

"You're worried he's going to come out early and take us by surprise?"

"Yes. You as an individual may be ready for this, but I don't think our whole team is ready for this. We weren't quick enough when he grabbed Julie. Sure, she didn't get killed but she was hit more than once and that shouldn't have happened. Not to mention the time we lost in not seeing her disappear. We have to figure out how to man that alley a little better, as well."

"I don't know that there is a way to be ready Bobby. I think all we can do is be confident in our own ability to protect each other as a unit. This is one of those situations that is highly unpredictable and if life teaches us anything it's that there is no way to be prepared for that."

"I know Eames, I just – I think we owe it to ourselves as cops, and cops who believe in women's rights at that, to catch this guy and put him away for a long time."

She nodded and moved closer to the warmth of his body.

"I think I'm ready to sleep now, for a little while at least."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"You know, in a way I kind of hope he comes out of the shadows earlier than expected. I just want it to be done."

He didn't respond. Watching as she drifted off to sleep part of him hoped that Baxter would come earlier as well, simply so that this mess could be over. But what if it wasn't over? What if they didn't stop him in time and he managed to seriously hurt Eames? Then what?

Desperate to push those thoughts out of his head he tilted his face down to get a better glance of Alex's at peace and let that view put him at ease.

& &

Getting up later in the morning the pair had gone their separate ways. Goren had gone straight to the office while Eames had gone back to the clinic for the results of her pregnancy test and to try and push Baxter further into disliking her with the hope that it would be her he would go after and not some other unsuspecting, late-night streetwalker.

When the Doctor came in to see her she was surprised to see Baxter joining them in the room.

"Hello Ms. Smith. I hope you don't mind if David joins us, he's a nurse studying to become a licensed nurse practitioner and I try to give him as much observation time as possible."

"Oh, not at all. I'm more than happy to help in someone's education."

"Okay. Well, let's get right to it then. It does appear that your pregnancy test came back positive."

"Oh… oh." She feigned displeasure with ease, allowing disappointment to cross over her face for more than just a few seconds.

"Ms. Smith?"

"Look. I'm really in no position to care for a child. I'm really in no position to have a child, actually. I never really wanted one and I thought if I was careful enough I would be able to avoid this… problem."

Baxter's eyes bore into her head as he watched her speak. Eames had been deliberately focusing her eyes onto to the doctor, but she chose the second she spoke the word 'problem' to shift her eyes to the nurse.

"Ms. Smith… can I call you Alexis?"

She nodded in affirmation.

"Alexis, this doesn't have to be a 'problem,' as you put it. There are many options out there if you don't think you can care for a child adequately. Firstly, there's adoption."

"Stop. I'm not interested in carrying a child to term. Period. I don't need this mess in my life right now. Plus, it will impede my ability to do my job."

The Doctor nodded his understanding, realizing that he had assumed correctly Alexis' profession.

"I see. Well, we can terminate the pregnancy if that is what you want. We do provide those services here on a sliding pay scale based on income level and certain other factors."

"Look, Doc… I don't have a lot of money. I'll give you what I have but I'm telling you it ain't much."

"Ms. Smith. Alexis. Maybe you really should consider adoption? It would be affordable, especially if you found a family in advance. Many of them will cover your medical expenses."

Baxter had taken the opportunity to chime in. He seemed to think that Alexis' inability to pay for the services she was requesting was another strike against her and that maybe guilting her into feeling like since she couldn't pay she shouldn't ask for the procedure that he would be able to 'save a life,' as he thought of it.

"We're not a wealthy clinic, and many of our clients are not wealthy. So, if we think there's a chance the baby could be born healthy and that the mother isn't an avid drug user and isn't going to put the baby in real danger during the pregnancy…"

"David. It's the woman's choice, it's not for you to lecture. This clinic prides itself on providing the services these women seek without questioning their choices. Giving them good care, that's all we can do."

Dr. Milberg had chimed in, but it was to no avail. Baxter had set his sights on trying to convince her otherwise.

"I can't promise those things anyway."

In the midst of their squabble the men had temporarily forgotten that 'Alexis' was in the room.

"I'm sorry, Alexis?"

"I can't promise those things. I try, but I'm no saint. I'm trying to stay clean now, but it's only been a week. I've never been able to last very long, and I'm sure I couldn't last a whole nine months and give someone else a healthy baby to boot."

Baxter's eyes settled once again on Alexis. This time, instead of trying to plead with her silently to not have an abortion, they were cold and hollow. Angry.

"Anyway, I think I'd like to schedule an appointment now. I gotta get outta here. Gotta start working in a few hours. I'd like to get some sleep first, you know?"

Dr. Milberg nodded, got out of his chair and moved towards the door.

"Okay, my receptionist will schedule you. Have a nice afternoon and evening, Ms. Smith."

She nodded and took one last look at Baxter before leaving. She knew. She knew then that she had him. She was the one he was going to come looking for.

& &

At around 2:00 a.m. it was still warm and very muggy. She had been walking for a little over two hours at that point. Everyone was in the positions they had been in the night Julie had taken her hit. Goren had decided that there were no more practice rounds. Baxter would be too unpredictable sine his pattern had been broken.

Wearing the same red dress and make-up that she had worn before the only thing about her attire that differed was the fact that she was wearing thigh-high pleather boots. This was change had been made because she had decided that it would be easier to pull her gun out from the top of her boot rather than having to reach under her dress. The dark color of the faux leather concealed the weapon more than adequately.

Once again she remained mostly silent and she strolled along the block. Just listening to the banter of the people on the other end of the wire in her ear was enough noise for her, she didn't need to hear herself talk.

Strolling past the alleyway where Julie had been dragged and the other bodies had been found Eames made sure to keep herself a good distance from the entrance so that she couldn't be grabbed without anyone seeing someone else come out of the alleyway to get her first.

She continuously glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one popped out behind her. The few other working girls that were in the vicinity had confined themselves cattycorner to her own position.

Eames felt ready, but she didn't feel like the hunter she had felt like the night before. On this night, she felt as though she was the hunted.

"I'm done playing defense."

"I'm sorry? Eames, you say something?" Hartley's voice came over the wire first.

"Eames, what's up?" Goren's was a quick second.

"I feel like I'm playing defense here," she whispered, "like I'm waiting for him to come to me."

"Eames, we haven't been able to figure out where he's been hiding. Patience, Eames, patience."

"No. I'm done playing defense. I'm going into that alley."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I don't own them.

A/N2: I should have definitely one, if not two updates before I leave the country next Thursday. No promises on the second one though.

It was dark, damp, and surprisingly chilly in the alley. But the air was stiff. It was like the place had a climate all it's own, with air trapped between three larger structures.

Eames took a deep breath, steadying herself from within, before she ventured toward its end. From what she could see in the blackness of the relatively narrow space there were two dumpsters, three fire escapes, and three doors. One door was straight ahead, at the end of the alley. The other was off to the right.

She stepped slowly, deliberately into the back of the alley. Eames was doing everything in her power to not let anyone sneak up on her. She peaked around the corners of the dumpsters before moving past them.

In her ears she could hear her back-up telling her to back out of the alley, each member wondering aloud what she was doing. Finally, she couldn't take the questioning any longer. She needed to know her team was behind her, not doubting her.

"Shut up. Just. Stop." Her voice came across harshly, even though it was registering barely above a whisper.

"Eames, what are you doing? Have you lost it?" Kemp had to come off in an accusatory manner, he didn't know how else to be.

"Eames, what's your plan?" Goren's voice was calm, like that of a steady Detective ready to back up his partner. He would never be so quick as to assume what direction she was going in. She respected him enough to follow his leads and hunches so often without question that affording her the same respect was all he could do to repay her.

"I shouldn't be waiting for him to come get me, to sneak up from behind. I should be waiting for him, I should be coming up behind him. Our problem in this case is that we haven't been pro-active enough."

Her voice helped to soothe her personal fears about where she was headed.

The voices in the background of the wire faded away and resumed their roles as listeners.

She noted how the doors at the end of the alley were both hinged on the left side when she faced them, and appeared to open out rather than in. These small details gave her the presence of mind to choose the back left corner of the alley, as she faced it, as her location for the next bit of her mission. She figured that this way if either door opened she wouldn't be spotted immediately.

At first Eames hadn't been sure whether or not Baxter would reappear so soon. Goren had seemed so sure that he would break with his pattern, but even he couldn't say when that would be. She had thought that the waiting might be all for naught but then she realized that he would come. The proverbial blood was in the water and Baxter, like a shark, was circling.

She leaned against the wall relieving her feet of some of the weight they were carrying. The concrete felt cool against her skin and it sent a chill down her spine.

The minutes were passing slowly. Walking around without a watch she was unsure about what time it was. Every now and then someone would ask if she was okay and she would respond with nothing more than a barely audible "mmm-hmm." She leaned against the corner for so long she had begun to drift off into her own thoughts.

When the door at the back of the alley creaked open Eames was jolted back to reality. She stood incredibly still, trying hard to keep her breath quiet and even.

The figure moved out of the doorway and into the alley, towards the entrance where light was flooding in from the street. His movements were slow and deliberate, almost as if he sensed he wasn't alone.

"Looking for someone?"

The words rolled off her tongue and into the still night air, cutting through the humidity like a knife.

The man's shoulders stiffened, his ears perked up. He turned slowly, gazing back into the alley at the small figure in the corner.

"Yeah, I think you may be just the person I'm looking for."

Although she couldn't see his facial expression in the darkness of the alley she could see his body relax in a show of recognition.

He moved slowly towards her. She could tell he was trying not to scare her off. Not that she had anywhere to go. She had put herself in the corner intentionally but had trapped herself inadvertently.

She pushed off from the wall moving towards him confidently, almost brazenly. As they neared each other and the man's face came into focus she was able to confirm for herself that it was Baxter.

"What can I do you for this evening, baby?" Eames made sure she was speaking loudly and clearly enough that everyone on the end of her wire could hear her and would know she was no longer alone in the alley.

"Oh, I got something real specific in mind pretty lady."

"Well, I don't come cheap. Money first."

Baxter advanced on her as he dug his hand deep into his pants pocket.

"Oh, I got something shiny for you, all right. Something I think you're really going to like." His words dripped with venom and she knew he wasn't reaching for his wallet. Still, she couldn't run away.

Baxter kept his slow deliberate movements, creeping towards her at an unbearably slow pace.

Eames' nerves began to creep in as she realized the amount of room she had to work with was growing smaller and smaller.

About six inches from where she stood Baxter whipped out what looked to be a scalpel and moved to force Eames back into her corner.

As she attempted to sidestep him there was a loud crack as the heel on her right boot broke and her right ankle twisted underneath her. Gasping in pain as she went down Eames knew that her options were incredibly limited. Baxter loomed large above her and with the strength that her legs usually provided now diminished she knew she would have to be a little more creative in her mode of attack.

"Whatsa matter, pretty lady? Scared of being opened up all of a sudden? You weren't so scared when you came into the clinic this week. You think your life is worth more than an unborn baby's?"

His words lit a fire under Alex and she slipped out of survival mode and into attack mode. Pushing herself up so that she was seated with her injured right leg curled beneath her, her left leg bent in front of her and so that she was leaning back on the palms of her hands.

She waited until Baxter had crouched in front of her, to taunt her. He still hadn't realized that she was a cop and was continuing to underestimate her training and experience.

He ran the scalpel down her face, gently enough so as not to break the skin but pressing hard enough to make her feel it there in an attempt to make her squirm.

When she launched herself off her palms and left foot and threw all her weight, all 110 pounds of her body, she knocked Baxter backwards and off balance.

Baxter fell backwards onto the ground with Alex on top of him.

Eames was reaching between her legs for her gun.

A scream could be heard all the way out of the alley and at the van.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Not mine.

A/N2: One more chapter left. Should have it up before next Thursday when I go away.

Goren and Hartley sprinted around the corner of the alley where they could hear Alex's scream piercing the air. Guns drawn they raced towards the back of the narrow corridor, Hartley puling a flashlight off his belt and shining it in the direction of the noise.

By the time they reached the end of the alleyway they could see Eames straddling Baxter, her gun pressed against his temple. From where Goren and Hartley were standing they could see Eames' profile from her right side. The mangled ankle wasn't so apparent, the swelling hidden in the darkness and under the material of her boot.

What they couldn't see was the scalpel pressed into her thigh. They couldn't see the blood dripping down her leg leaving a sticky, warm trail as it went.

"Al- Alex, put the gun down." Goren's voice was shaky; he knew his partner and he trusted her implicitly. Still, he knew that Eames' emotions had started to get the best of her in this case. Goren knew she was human and angry, scared humans with guns were not a good combination.

Kemp and the rest of the back up chose that moment to round the corner, having left the van a minute after Goren and Hartley.

Kemp whipped his gun out, moving quickly towards where Baxter, Eames, Goren and Hartley remained at the back of the alley.

"Alex. Alex put the gun down right now." Kemp's words came barked as orders and Goren was confused about what he was trying to do with the situation. The lines were blurred, very suddenly, between who Kemp was looking at as a friend and who he was looking at as a foe.

"Kemp. Hey, Kemp, get your gun off of her. She isn't the suspect or the perp in this situation."

"I don't want her to act with her emotions, Goren. I'm trying to keep her from making a mistake."

"She's not… Eames… she's not going to make a mistake, she's not going to shoot anyone. She was and is acting out of self-defense."

The clanking of metal against the pavement diverted Goren's attention away from Kemp once again. Eames had tossed her gun out of her hands and towards Hartley, who had his own pistol pointed in Baxter's direction.

Hartley moved closer to the pair, clutching is gun in his right hand and pulling out his handcuffs with his left. He reached down and wrapped one cuff around Baxter's right wrist. When Eames knew for sure that Hartley was in control of Baxter she rolled herself off of him and onto her right side.

Hartley flipped Baxter over roughly onto his stomach and began to mirandize the man as he stepped over Eames' body wrapped the second cuff around Baxter's left wrist. Eames rolled over onto her back, and the scalpel dug into her thigh was suddenly visible for all to see. She gasped in pain and placed her left hand on her leg, trying to alleviate the pain the throbbing was causing her.

Aware that Baxter was in custody, but suddenly oblivious to Alex, Goren and Kemp began to stare each other down.

"What the hell is the matter with you, turning your gun on a fellow officer?!"

"Hey! I was trying to make sure she didn't get out of hand!"

"She has a name! And _Detective Eames_ was totally in control of herself. Believe me, if she wanted to blow his head off she would have done it before you and I ever made it near this alley. _Detective Eames_ is a great shot with even better reflexes, if she thought she needed to defend herself in that way she would have."

"Oh, come on man. Who do you think you are trying to be the good guy, sticking up for her? You know how women are, always letting their emotions get the best of them."

From her position on her back Alex could see just exactly when Bobby snapped. In fact, it was Bobby snapping on her behalf. She looked around desperately for something to get Bobby's attention and break his focus away from Kemp before he did something stupid.

"Bobby… Bobby… Hey. Hartley!" She could see him down at the end of the alley, having transferred custody of Baxter to a couple of uniforms with a waiting squad car to take him downtown.

The younger officer put his hand up, signaling for her to wait a minute.

"There's a bus on the way Detective Eames."

"No, Hartley. Matt. Get down here now please."

She watched as he jogged away from the uniform and towards her.

"Yes, Detective."

"Stop them!"

"I'm sorry?"

"If I could get up off my back I would hit them both, but I can't so I need you to get in the middle of them."

"Uhhhh…"

"Now, Hartley!"

The younger man was hesitant to step between the Detective and his Commanding Officer.

"Guys. Uhhh. Guys. Look, this isn't worth fighting about. Right?"

He looked from one man to the other, nervously. Bobby had him beat in size and he wasn't sure he could hold off Kemp for that matter, either.

The two men continued to stare each other down, hands clenching and unclenching,

"Seriously, guys you don't want to get into this fight. You know the rules, they could suspend you both."

Neither seemed to even register Hartley's voice.

The wail of an ambulance siren drawing closer distracted both men for a brief second. Still, it was long enough to make Goren realize that Eames was more hurt than it appeared from first glance and or Kemp to realize that if he got in a fistfight with a Detective under his command it would cost him a lot.

"Hartley, wait with Eames for the bus. Eames, I'm going to make sure we put this guy away for more than just assaulting an officer." At that Goren stalked out of the alley and towards one of the squad cars that had appeared on cue and was now waiting to take him back to One PP. Just like that, it was over.

As she heard the ambulance drawing nearer to the mouth of the alley Eames realized that was what she loved about Goren. That in a professional situation he viewed her as a professional first, and as more than just a woman or a lover.

"Hey, Eames," Hartley's voice broke through her reverie. "No reason for you to lie here on the concrete like this. One of the guys brought the van over. If you'll let me I can carry you back there to wait for the ambulance."

She thought for a moment while staring up for a moment at the blurry New York City night sky.

"That's okay, Matt, I think I'd like to just hang out for a minute if that's all right."

"Of course, Detective."

He stepped back to lean against the wall, knowing full well that if he left her in the alley alone and Goren found out about it later he would never hear the end of it.

Kemp was pacing and as he popped back into Alex's line of vision she decided she couldn't take it anymore.

"What'sa matter Paul? Upset that a pair of Detectives who don't belong to you solved this case? Or disappointed that someone you are training to be your protégé, such as Matt here, has a hell of a lot more tact and respect then you ever will?"

Kemp glared in return, seemingly unsure of how to form a witty comeback.

"What, cat got your tongue? Get out of here Paul, go sit yourself back behind a desk with some paperwork where you belong."

Kemp just stared back. As the bus pulled into sight Hartley took it upon himself to pick Eames up and carry her to it.

They had pulled out of sight before Kemp could form a retort.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Don't own them.

A/N2: That's all for this one, folks. Hope you enjoyed it. I'll be away for a little while, but I have some other things in the works for when I get bac in two weeks. Thanks to all who reviewed. This was my first attempt a multi-chaptered case file. The reviews were both encouraging and helpful.

Bobby sat alone at his desk in Major Case five days after the closing of the Baxter case. He had gotten the man to confess to all of the killings. In the end he was nothing more than a sniveling little boy with no place to put his anger.

He was flipping through a case file that he had been given for consultation purposes when he felt the familiar feeling of eyes watching him from across the room. Looking up he saw Julie Duff standing in the entryway to the Major Case squad room. Nodding his head in acknowledgment she began to move in his direction.

"Hey, Detective Goren."

"Hey, Duff. What can I do for you?"

"Detective Eames isn't around, is she?"

"Sorry, she's decided to take a little time off. Work from home, she says. Not that she's ever one to be slowed down by an injury but, you know, hobbling around on those crutches and wearing a big plastic boot… she just decided it would be easier to catch up on some old paperwork from the confines of her couch I guess."

Julie just nodded in that awkward young woman way that she had perfected.

"She'd love to have a visitor, I'm sure."

Julie seemed to ponder this idea for a moment, uncertain about where she stood in the whole mess that the case she had worked on with Eames had created.

"That's okay, Detective. I just… maybe you could pass along some information… well… news really, I guess, to her?"

"Sure. Absolutely."

"Captain Kemp is resigning." She paused and Goren knew to wait before replying, sensing she had more to stay. "And Matt and I are going to stay partners."

"Can I ask what brought all of this on? I mean… it seemed to me that you and Matt hated each other and that Kemp isn't a man that readily jumps down from his high horse. But… far be it for me to talk or pass judgment."

"No, no it's fine. Hartley… he came to visit me the day after I got out of the hospital. Said that he realized that he was listening too much to what Kemp said and that instead of trying to form his own opinions about things and make his own decisions about things. That… he realized that part of doing the job is forming your own opinions, doing the work yourself to figure things out… not jumping to conclusions."

"That's… uh… that's a good thing for him to have realized at this stage in the game."

"Yeah. So, anyway, I guess he went to talk to Kemp. He told me that he told Kemp that while he respected the fact that he ranks above him that he didn't share his opinion on everything and that he couldn't be his 'step and fetch' boy any longer."

Duff watched as Goren nodded his head in understanding.

"So, the next day Kemp came out of his office. Said he was stepping down from his post. I guess he didn't want to wait for all of his troops to turn their back on him, huh?"

"Better to leave on your own terms, Duff, then to be forced out. You'll learn that."

"Well, anyway Detective, I just came by to see how Alex was doing and… pass on that little bit of gossip." She smirked as she finished her sentence.

"That's very nice of you, Duff. I'll tell her you were asking for her. You should give her a call, see if she's up for visitors. Knowing her I'm sure she's going stir crazy."

"Thanks, Goren. Anyway, I gotta get back downstairs. It's my first day back and I've got a lot of paperwork waiting for me. Uh… thanks. Thanks for your help with this case."

And as quietly as she had arrived in Goren and Eames' life a little over two weeks ago, Duff left.

&

He let himself into Eames' house quietly, not wanting to disturb her if she was sleeping. He was surprised that she had agreed to take a little time off to rest herself, let her body heal. Not to mention her mind. God knows he wouldn't, he didn't want to really set her off.

However, it wasn't like he had totally gotten her to sit still or lay in bed all day. Two nights ago he had come home to find her stuck in the bathtub, one leg hanging over the edge. Grinning like the Cheshire cat she had explained that no, she couldn't wait for him to get home so she could bathe and that no she hadn't expected to be unable to balance herself enough to get out of the tub.

Rounding the corner into the living room he could see that she had pulled a stool over to the kitchen counter and he could hear the sounds of a knife against a cutting board.

"Oh, no. Clearly I've been gone to long if you think you have to cook to fend for yourself."

She turned her head to him and grinned, shaking her head.

"I just… I thought I would at least try and make myself useful. I hear about all these women who stay at home and wait for their significant other to return. I often wonder what they do all day. I figure this is probably one of those things so… I may as well at least try."

He chuckled as he pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Duff came by looking for you today."

"Did she? How's her head?"

"Seemed okay, she's back at work as of today. Behind a desk at least, but I didn't ask when they were sending her back out on the street."

"That's good. What else did she have to say?"

"How do you know she wasn't just coming to see how you were?"

"I can see it written all over your face. I can always tell when you have something to say."

"Right. It's scary when you think I've become an open book."

She smiled and laughed, knowing that they both knew neither one would ever be able to read the other.

"Anyway, she said that she and Hartley are going to stay partners."

"Really? Well… I guess Matt did seem to be coming around to be a decent human being towards the end of the case there."

"Yeah. He did seem to grow out of his scummy phase, didn't het?"

"What else?"

"Kemp is resigning."

"What?!"

"She said Kemp's resigning. She said Hartley went and told him that while he respected him as a Captain that he didn't necessarily agree with him about everything and, to quote her quoting him, he couldn't be his 'step and fetch boy' any longer. I told her that Kemp probably realized that it's better to leave on your own terms then to be driven out by people who can't stand you."

"Yes, well, some things don't change."

"What does that mean?"

"Kemp would never allow himself to be driven out by a woman. Every woman on the force could hate him and it wouldn't matter. Hell, they probably all do hate him. But being put out by his peers, his _male_ peers, that certainly had to have an effect."

"I guess you're right then, Eames. Some things don't change."

"Except maybe my cooking skills."

"We'll see about that."

_fin. _


End file.
